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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29760291">ace of hearts</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/honeyvenom/pseuds/honeyvenom'>honeyvenom</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Cobra Kai (Web Series), Karate Kid (Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Daniel is just so pretty and Johnny can't handle it, Daniel likes to dance sluttily to Madonna, Homophobic Language, Internalized Homophobia, Jealousy, Johnny generally being a big jerk, Loss of Virginity, M/M, Mutual Pining, Obsession, Possessive Behavior, Sexuality Crisis, Teen Romance, Trauma, set just after The Karate Kid, who can't process his emotions in a healthy way</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 23:47:32</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>21,419</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29760291</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/honeyvenom/pseuds/honeyvenom</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>On a hot spring night in 1985, a morose Johnny Lawrence heads to the beach for a friend's party. When he sees Daniel there dancing and capturing the attention of another man, everything changes between the two rivals.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Daniel LaRusso/Johnny Lawrence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>69</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>219</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This fic is dedicated to my friend Noora (pohjanneito), who ruined my life about two weeks ago by telling me all about Cobra Kai and Lawrusso. Thank you for encouraging my weird flights of fancy, Noora, and being such a great friend.</p><p>Just to note: there is a small section at the start of this fic where Daniel is touched against his full consent, but it's not by Johnny and it's not graphic.</p><p>Also, I tried my best to emulate Daniel and Johnny's style of talking in the first Karate Kid movie, but sorry in advance for any modernisms that slip through!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>On a hot spring evening in late March, Johnny drives down to Santa Monica for a party at the beach.</p><p>He feels good when he leaves the house. His leather jacket on, blue jeans straining at his thighs. The way he knows girls like it. The night is warm and balmy. And the road beneath his wheels feels as smooth as butter. But as soon as he gets to the beach his mood turns. His mouth tastes sour. And even though he has a full bottle of Absolut Vodka in his hands and all the Cobra Kai boys are here, all he wants to do is hightail it back to his car. Not even the hot girl sitting next to him, the one currently mouthing at his neck, can stop the faint crackle of anger under his skin. </p><p>It could have been a good night. Would be. If it wasn’t for Daniel fucking LeRusso.</p><p>A lot of them had come down from a party in the Valley, and were sprawled out around the bonfire as they shared stubby joints and bottles of beer. But a few of them had spilled out onto the edges of the shoreline, skipping drunkenly through the frothy lip of waves. Others danced in small groups to the Madonna track currently pumping out of a cherry-red boombox lying on its side in the sand.  </p><p>LaRusso was one of them, dancing near the bonfire like he didn't have a care in the world.</p><p>His head was tipped back, exposing the long line of his throat, and his narrow hips swayed to the beat, his arms thrown out above his head. A group of Ali's friends giggled and danced around him, touching his face and his hair like he was something sacred, making Johnny think of the dancing girls he sometimes saw in movies. Luring the hero in with their eyes and round curves.</p><p>Trust LaRusso to take up all the oxygen at the party. </p><p>First it was Johnny's girl, then his tournament trophy, then his friends' beach party.</p><p>As soon as Johnny arrived, the guys had taken him by the arm and steered him as far from LaRusso as they could. It had been three months since the tournament, but LaRusso and Johnny hadn't shared a word since then. And while the Cobra Kai didn't bother LaRusso anymore, everyone still held their breath when the two boys passed each other in the hallway or were in the same room. Which is why they pulled Johnny away as soon as he saw LaRusso across the sand. <em> It’s not worth it, man. Don’t let him ruin it. </em> So Johnny relented. He wanted to have a good night.</p><p>Except from his vantage point by the fire, Johnny has a perfect view of LaRusso. The shrimpy asshole with his thin arms and long legs, who was dancing like an idiot to <em>Lucky Star </em>or whatever the fuck it was called. Soft shit girls at school were always listening to on their cassette players.</p><p>He looks flushed - whether from the fire or the booze, Johnny can't tell, but LaRusso's cheeks were as pink as a petal. As pink as his open mouth, which was currently singing along to the song like he knew every word.</p><p>Or maybe LaRusso's flushed because of the guy standing behind him - the college-looking douchebag who’d been watching him as intently as Johnny had been for the last 20 minutes. He’s way too fucking close, mouth almost touching LaRusso’s ear as he whispers something to him. And it must be funny because the dork starts fucking laughing, showing every pearly tooth in his dumb mouth. Emboldened by his laugh, the guy moves his fingers to LaRusso's waist, nails dimpling the olive-coloured skin where his short t-shirt rides up. </p><p>Johnny expects LaRusso to jump, to pull away and tell the guy to get lost, but he doesn’t. Instead he leans back against him, letting the goon's fingers slip along his side and skitter up the flat of his belly under his t-shirt.</p><p>Johnny takes another angry swig from the Absolut.</p><p>“Johnny,” the girl says next to him, fingers clutching his jacket, “kiss me.”</p><p>But Johnny’s transfixed. He can’t look away from the swing of LaRusso’s hips. The way he tilts his head back onto the college bro’s shoulder. How loose and joyful he looks. The flush on his cheeks, how his dark eyes glitter above the golden flame of the fire. </p><p>He doesn’t even know Johnny’s sitting there, and that stings far more than it should.</p><p>Someone taps him on the shoulder; Johnny tears his eyes away from LaRusso. </p><p>“Yeah?”</p><p>It’s Bobby, who’s grinning down at him with a bottle of beer. “How’s it going, champ? Having a good time?”</p><p>“Sure, Bobby."</p><p>“It’s just you’ve been staring at LaRusso like you want to murder him.”</p><p>“We already tried that, remember?” he says, thinking of the way they’d all pushed LaRusso down that hill the year before.</p><p>He's joking of course - they hadn't wanted to <em>kill him</em>, but it had still sent a thrill through Johnny when LaRusso came to school the following week with that nasty cut above his eye. A tangible reminder of what Johnny had done to him. </p><p>Bobby winces. “Just remember to enjoy yourself, yeah? It's almost summer!"</p><p>Johnny nods, but when he turns back, it's to find LaRusso and the college guy have disappeared.</p><p>He freezes - they had been right there just a second ago. </p><p><em>Forget about it, man, </em>he thinks to himself. <em>Think about anything but Daniel LaRusso.</em></p><p>But he can't. He has to know.</p><p>When Johnny stands, the girl next to him pouts and tries to grab his hand. “Johnny? Don't go, I want to spend time with you."</p><p>“Dana, get lost,” he says, walking away as she gives an indignant squawk. </p><p>He leaves her and the bottle of Absolut by the bonfire. Even though a multitude of boys were falling all over themselves to take Dana on a date. And even though he’d spent all afternoon trying to pilfer the vodka from his mom's minibar when she wasn’t looking. But he doesn't care. He feels compelled. Pulled along the sand almost against his will.</p><p>Johnny finds the two of them easily enough. They're a little way down the beach, hidden from the eyes of the party.</p><p>His ears prickle when he hears the moan - a husky little noise that could have only been made by LaRusso. Was he hurt? Had that asshole done something to him? Johnny picks up his stride along the beach, but when his eyes finally adjust to the dark, he stops dead.</p><p>For a second he thinks he must be drunker than he thought. Or maybe they're still dancing. But no, the two of them are knotted together like a pretzel, and the man's got a fistful of LaRusso's hair, pulling his head back sharply to nose at his throat.</p><p>Johnny turns his head - <em>shit</em>, he shouldn't be seeing this. Whatever it was. At the same time his pulse jumps up, and his eyes slide back to watch how LaRusso reacts to the touch. Even in the dark his face shocks Johnny down to the bone. It's an expression he's never seen LaRusso make before, his mouth wide open and his eyes clamped shut. It's like he's in pain, but not. Something just as intense. </p><p>Fuck, and Johnny didn't even know LaRusso could look like that.</p><p>When the man takes LaRusso's hand to push it against the crotch of his jeans, Johnny feels his face go red-hot.</p><p>"Come on, baby, you know you want it," he hears the guy say.</p><p>
  <em>Get out of here, Lawrence. Go back to the party and act like you didn't see anything.</em>
</p><p>But he can't. Because a second later Johnny realises that LaRusso is clamming up. That he's trying to pull away from the man's grip on him.</p><p>“Push him away, idiot,” Johnny mutters under his breath. But LaRusso's frozen, his hands hanging loose at his sides. He could be a mannequin, he looks so fucking still. Except Johnny recognises the look on his face because he's seen it on the mat. LaRusso is <em>scared</em>.</p><p>That’s the last straw. The thing that finally propels Johnny over the sand until he’s right behind them. He doesn’t even think about what he’s going to do. All he knows is that his hand is on the back of the guy’s collar and he’s tearing him away from LaRusso as hard as he can.</p><p>LaRusso gasps as the night air hits him. "<em>Johnny?</em> What-"</p><p>But Johnny’s not listening, too focused on the college bro, who almost catapults across the sand from the force of Johnny’s hands.</p><p>As soon as he steadies himself, he’s up in Johnny’s face, hissing, “Hey man, what the fuck?”</p><p>The guy's pissed, his body arched towards Johnny, raring for a fight. But Johnny’s more than ready. He’s wanted a fight like this ever since losing the tournament in December. Has wanted to take it all out on someone. All of the rage, the not being good enough. And the sudden fucking loss, like a door slamming shut in his face, taking everything from him. </p><p>Before the guy can even make a move, Johnny’s fist smashes into his nose. It isn't karate, but it is swift and hard, and he watches with a muted kind of satisfaction as the guy's head snaps back. A moment later, the blood starts to gush from his nose. </p><p>Behind him, LaRusso gasps again, like he's the one who's been punched.</p><p>“Get out of here before I kick your fucking ass," Johnny growls. </p><p>The look on Johnny’s face must be convincing, or maybe the asshole's had enough already. Either way, he claps his hands over his streaming nose and stumbles away without another word or a glance back at LaRusso. </p><p>Pussy.</p><p>He turns back to LaRusso, his mouth set in a snarl. “What the fuck were you doing, LaRusso?"</p><p>LaRusso shrinks back from him. For a split-second he looks contrite, like he’s about to apologise. But then that typical bratty look comes back and he's up in Johnny's face like he always is. “What was I doing? What were <em> you </em> doing! Were you following me?”</p><p>"Dream on, shrimp. I walked over here to take a leak and you were in my fucking way."</p><p>"You're such a liar," LaRusso seethes. "And why did you have to hit him like that? You almost knocked his teeth out!"</p><p>This close, Johnny can see LaRusso's mussed hair and the violently pink colour of his lips. It looked like he'd been kissed hard. </p><p>"Maybe the pussy deserved it, he didn't even fight back."</p><p>"Not everyone is a meathead like you!"</p><p>"This meathead just saved your ass, LaRusso."</p><p>LaRusso's eyes go white-hot as he says, "I didn't ask you to be my knight in shining armour, Johnny."</p><p>“Oh yeah? Because it looked like you were a second away from having that guy's dick in your hand."</p><p>His words pierce LaRusso like a knife. He visibly deflates, the fight leaving his body.</p><p>With downcast eyes he asks, “And what? You gonna beat on me now? Now you've got me alone. Is this what you wanted ever since the tournament?”</p><p>Johnny startles. Is that what LaRusso thought of him?</p><p>“No, Jesus Christ, that’s not what I want.”</p><p>He shakes his head from its red fog. Maybe LaRusso was right. What the hell was he doing? Why did he care what the little prick did? He should never have followed him down the beach. Should have taken Dana back to his car instead and pushed his hands up her blouse. </p><p>“Whatever, dude. Do what you want, I'm out of here."</p><p>That’s when LaRusso, who’d been half-swaying on the spot, stumbles, almost pitching face-first into the sand.</p><p>Johnny catches him just in time, grabbing LaRusso tightly around the waist. </p><p>“Fuck, are you okay?”</p><p>“Erm, I think I might have had too much to drink,” LaRusso mumbles. </p><p>“Yeah, no shit.”</p><p>Johnny peers down at the boy’s dark hair. "Do you need to vomit?"</p><p>"Ah, no, I- I don't think so."</p><p>As he takes his weight, Johnny can't help but notice how light the other boy feels. How small where he leans against his chest. It feels like he weighs hardly anything at all, like his entire body's woven from glass or hollow twigs. He feels delicate. </p><p>Johnny pushes that word out of his mind as soon as he thinks it. LaRusso was not fucking <em> delicate</em>. He was a pain in the ass who could yap his head off for hours and kick his leg as high as a fucking prima ballerina, but he wasn’t delicate. </p><p>Johnny shifts backwards to take more of the boy’s weight against his chest. “Is there someone here who can take you home?”</p><p>LaRusso doesn’t answer. His fingers flutter weakly against Johnny’s chest.</p><p>Johnny shakes him. “Huh? LaRusso? Come on.”</p><p>“Ngh Johnny, I don’t feel so good.”</p><p>He doesn't look good either. His flush was gone, leaving LaRusso pale under the tan. And he was quivering in Johnny’s arms, even in the hot night air. That guy must have spooked him bad. He’d never seen LaRusso act like this, even when Bobby almost broke his leg at the tournament. </p><p>“What about your mom? Can she come get you?"</p><p>LaRusso laughs quietly, the sound muffled against Johnny’s chest. “She’d kill me if she knew I’d been drinking. Can’t do that.”</p><p>And Johnny doesn't know why, but the next thing out of his mouth is, “I’ll get you back then, come on.”</p><p>LaRusso lifts his head and stares up at home with dark, glossy eyes. “Really, you’re gonna take me home?”</p><p>He sounds so vulnerable that Johnny has to close his eyes for a second. Has to fight the urge to follow that dickhead down the beach and break his arm for making LaRusso look and sound this way. When he opens them again, LaRusso has tucked his head back against his collarbone.</p><p>“Yeah, come on. Lean on me.”</p><p>They make their way across the beach, back to the cluster of kids around the bonfire. It’s slow going, with LaRusso wobbling like he’s about to pass out at any second. But Johnny keeps an iron-grip on his waist. And it's good they're not talking because Johnny can’t focus on anything but how small LaRusso's waist feels in the crook of his elbow. Can hardly hear his own thoughts when LaRusso is pressed up so warm against his side.</p><p>Luckily everyone was either too high or wasted to notice the two of them together.</p><p>Everyone apart from Bobby, whose eyes trail from LaRusso’s pale face to the arm Johnny has around him.</p><p>“What’s up with LaRusso?”</p><p>“Some jerk was messing with him. I’m gonna take him home.”</p><p>Bobby’s eyebrows shoot up so high they almost disappear into his hair.<em>"You </em> are? Is that such a good idea?”</p><p>Johnny bristles. Why was everyone treating him like a fucking psycho these days? </p><p>“Yeah, man, you got a problem with that?” </p><p>His tone makes Bobby back off. Because Johnny might not have been the all-star Cobra Kai anymore, but he was still their leader. </p><p>“No, man. No problem. I can come with you if you want.”</p><p>“Nah I’m good. Enjoy the party. And tell LaRusso’s friends I took him home.”</p><p>“Sure, I can do that. Get him home safe, yeah?”</p><p>Johnny nods, scanning the party for the dickhead who had touched LaRusso. But there was no sign of him.</p><p>Over Bobby’s shoulder, Johnny catches a glimpse of Dana, now making out with some other guy by the bonfire. Johnny feels a momentary trickle of annoyance, but doesn’t really care. Dana had a banging bod but she was the dullest chick Johnny had ever met. At least Ali had been smart and fun to hang out with, at least when she wasn’t bitching at Johnny for being a bully or spending so much time at the dojo instead of with her.</p><p>The two of them make their way off the beach towards Johnny's car, taking it slow as the music and noise of the party fade away. </p><p>Once they get there, he looks down at LaRusso, who's still nestled against his chest. </p><p>“Hey, LaRusso, where do you live?”</p><p>“Mmm, South Seas."</p><p>“Huh? Where?”</p><p>LaRusso makes a huffing noise, the feel of it making Johnny's skin prickle. “It’s an apartment complex in Reseda, Einstein.”</p><p>Johnny sighs. Trust LaRusso to be an annoying little prick even when he’s drunk. </p><p>"Well believe it or not, I don't actually hang out in Reseda."</p><p>"You're missing out, man. The smog levels are insane."</p><p>Johnny chooses to ignore the quip, leaning LaRusso back against the car so he can unlock the passenger side. LaRusso goes easily too, like a rag doll that Johnny's propping up on a shelf. Seeing how limp he is makes a chill go through him, and he grabs LaRusso by the chin to look at his eyes, though he's careful not to dig his fingers in or bruise the boy. <em>Too delicate, </em>he thinks again. </p><p>“LaRusso, look at me. Did that asshole slip you something?”</p><p>“Hmm?”</p><p>Johnny shakes him until he opens his eyes, looking annoyed. “Hey!”</p><p>“Answer the question. Did that asshole make you take something?”</p><p>“What? No, man. I’m just wasted.” </p><p>Johnny feels relieved but somehow even more annoyed. “Why the fuck did you drink so much if you can’t handle it then?”</p><p>LaRusso shrugs, his head lolling sideways back onto his shoulder. “I don’t know, just wanted to feel good,” he mumbles. </p><p>“Well if you’re gonna vomit, do it now. I’m not getting shit from my mom when she finds out how much I spent on getting the car cleaned.”</p><p>LaRusso gives him a prissy little look, as if he’d never do something so low. “I’m not gonna vomit.”</p><p>“Are you sure?”</p><p>“Yes!”</p><p>“Okay, fucking cool it.”</p><p>Johnny pushes him into the passenger seat and buckles him up. From a distance, someone might see them and think Johnny was bringing a girl home. LaRusso was small enough to fool people, and his hair was longer than it had been a few months ago. He was pretty enough too. All huge eyes and slender limbs. The thought makes Johnny’s cheeks burn, and he’s glad that LaRusso’s too out of it to notice.</p><p>The drive out to Reseda takes a while, but LaRusso blissfully keeps his mouth shut the entire way. At one point he curls his legs up on the seat, and Johnny grimaces, thinking of the sand he's going to have to wash out tomorrow.</p><p>As they get closer to LaRusso's neighbourhood he asks, “Where’s your fancy car anyway? The bright yellow one?”</p><p>“Mmmm, I leave it at Miyagi-San’s house so it doesn't get stolen."</p><p>“Oh, Miyagi-San,” Johnny says. “Of course.”</p><p>LaRusso’s head shoots off the headrest. “Don’t make fun of him! He’s my best friend.”</p><p>“I'm not making fun of him. <em>Jesus</em>. Now wake up so you can give me directions. I’m not wasting all my gas driving you around in circles.”</p><p>LaRusso sits up and does his best to navigate Johnny through the streets of Reseda, winding their way down dark streets until suddenly he screeches in Johnny's ear, “This is it!”, pointing at a dimly lit apartment complex just off the road.</p><p>Johnny parks up, rubbing his ear. "Here you go, your highness. Now fuck off."</p><p>But of course LaRusso doesn't do as he's told. Instead he turns in the seat and stares at Johnny, eyes boring into the side of his skull.</p><p>Johnny ignores him for as long as he can, but when he doesn’t move or say anything, he turns to look at him.</p><p>“Dude, <em>what</em>?"</p><p>“Why aren’t you doing karate anymore?”</p><p>Johnny reels back at the complete left-turn. “Huh?”</p><p>“It was your passion, right? So why give it up?”</p><p>“Do I have to remind you what Kreese did to me?”</p><p>Because Johnny couldn't forget. How it felt to be humiliated like that in front of everyone, when Kreese smashed his trophy then took Johnny by the throat. It had felt like he wanted to kill him. Johnny's neck had been bruised for two weeks afterwards. He could hardly speak. </p><p>“But you shouldn’t let him take it away from you. He doesn’t deserve it.”</p><p>“Cut the shit, all right, LaRusso? And get the fuck out of my car. I could be getting laid right now but instead I’m hauling your drunk ass home.”</p><p>LaRusso rolls his eyes. “You didn’t look like you were into that girl anyway. Why even kiss her if you don’t like her? I don’t get it.”</p><p>Johnny looks at him sharply. So LaRusso <em>had</em> seen him at the party.</p><p>“I have a question for you too. What were you doing with that guy back at the beach?”</p><p>LaRusso shifts, obviously uncomfortable. “We were just goofing around.”</p><p>“Looked like more than that to me.”</p><p><em>It looked like you were fucking kissing him, </em>he wants to say. <em>Like he was trying to get his hand into your pants.</em> <em>And after the way you rubbed up against him at the bonfire, who could blame him. You looked like you were panting for it. </em></p><p>LaRusso glares at him. “Why do you care? Don’t you hate me?"</p><p>Johnny runs his tongue over his teeth, trying to stop his hands from slamming down on the steering wheel.</p><p>He did hate LaRusso. He hated him more than anyone. But he’d hated seeing that guy’s hands on him even more. Something about it made his blood boil. He can feel it now, snaking under his skin, whispering at him to let it out. </p><p>“Just get out of here before I dump you out onto the road.”</p><p>LaRusso huffs. “Fine, I’m goin’. Don’t want to sit around in your dumb muscle car anyway."</p><p>“<em>Muscle car?”  </em></p><p>But LaRusso’s not listening. He grapples with the door handle for a few seconds, and then falls out, his legs wobbling like noodles under his jeans. And Jesus, did Johnny seriously lose the championship to this klutz? Maybe that old Japanese guy had been doing some mystic mojo on the sidelines. Johnny wouldn't have been surprised. LaRusso may have been an anxious mess but on the mat he moved like a dream.</p><p>Just before he disappears through the door, LaRusso throws out an arm in a haphazard wave, but Johnny doesn't wave back.</p><p>When LaRusso’s finally out of sight, he drives away, leaving the backlots and crumby motels of Reseda in the rear-view mirror.</p><p>At home, he finds his mom passed out on the couch, some late-night soap playing on the tv, a half-drunk bottle of white wine on the coffee table. Johnny takes the wine, then turns off the tv and drapes a blanket over her. She’ll wake up hungover in the morning, with a black mood to match her headache, but Johnny will be up and long gone by then. He always makes himself scarce on the weekends. </p><p>In his bedroom, he strips down and falls onto his bed. Staring at the ceiling, he lets his mind wander back to LaRusso, casually bumping the bottle of wine against his mouth.</p><p>He thinks of the flush on his cheeks as he danced, his small frame illuminated by the fire. How small he felt in his arms. Like a fox or small deer. Johnny punches his pillow when he thinks of the asshole that touched him. How he did it so carelessly. Like LaRusso belonged to him.</p><p><em>Fuck,</em> he thinks, his teeth gritting so hard his mouth hurts.</p><p>Even after finishing the wine, it takes him a long time to fall asleep.</p><p>The next day he spends the afternoon with Bobby and they carefully don’t talk about what happened. They talk about Johnny's new bike instead. Where Bobby's parents are thinking of vacationing over the summer. How crazy Dutch had been getting since they quit the Cobra Kai.</p><p>When Bobby does mention LaRusso in passing - something about his moves when he danced - Johnny grunts but doesn’t say anything, hollowing his cheeks around the joint they were smoking. The pot they’d picked up was sticky and strong, and now that Johnny doesn’t have karate, he’s happy to spend the weekend in a haze, not thinking about anything in particular. </p><p>But it’s impossible not to think about LaRusso. Now when images from the party keep popping up behind Johnny's eyelids.</p><p>And especially not when the first thing Johnny sees on Monday morning is LaRusso rounding the corner with Ali and her friends. LaRusso had been an honourary member of their group since the winter, and at school he was often seen hanging around with Ali, his arm sling loosely through hers. Weirdly, they weren't dating, as far as Johnny knew - he never saw them kissing - but they were cute and cosy enough to be.</p><p>This morning the two of them are talking intently about something, and Johnny notices that LaRusso has a dorky Star Wars t-shirt over his blue jeans. His eyes hone in on the neckline that's a little too big for him, where it droops down to reveal the slope of one tanned shoulder. </p><p>When the group gets closer, LaRusso's eyes meet his for a split second, and Johnny feels his stomach lurch. He cuts his gaze away quickly, turning to say something to Jimmy while Dutch sneers at LaRusso and yells, "What the hell are you staring at?"</p><p>"We were marvelling at zoo animals being allowed on school property," LaRusso says back, making Ali snort, but by the time Dutch figures out that LaRusso has just insulted him, the group have walked past and turned the corner. </p><p>"Can you believe that little freak?" Dutch hisses. "He's always messing with us."</p><p>"Just let it go, man," Bobby says, closing his locker with a sigh.</p><p>Johnny doesn't think of LaRusso for the rest of the day. Not until he comes slinking over to his locker after school.</p><p>Johnny smells him before he sees him, which he knows sounds weird, but he does. LaRusso smelled like none of the Cobra Kai. Or any of the guys at school. There was something fresh and sharp about him. Like chlorine and green tea.</p><p>“Hey Johnny,” he says. </p><p>Johnny looks over his shoulder at him. </p><p>LaRusso was standing a few feet away, fingers hooked into the straps of his backpack. His big brown eyes made him look impossibly young. Sometimes Johnny found it hard to believe they were the same age and that LaRusso hadn't secretly skipped a few grades.</p><p>“What do you want, shrimp?”</p><p>The other boy blinks at him, looking uncertain. “I wondered if I could talk to you for a minute.”</p><p>Johnny turns back to his locker. “Talk then. But make it fast, I have practice in 10.”</p><p>“Karate?” </p><p>“No, soccer. I’m on the team this semester.”</p><p>“Oh, that’s cool, man. Really cool. Good for you.”</p><p>Johnny doesn’t say anything. Soccer was okay. It was a way to pass the time, more than anything. And he got to spend more time with Bobby who was also on the team. But it couldn’t come close to how karate had made him feel. The discipline of it. How it felt to mold his body into something sleek and deadly. But he hadn’t set foot in a dojo since December, and he had no intention of ever stepping into one again. </p><p>He listens to LaRusso shift behind him, obviously embarrassed. But he waits, draws it out.</p><p>Finally, LaRusso says, “I just wanted to say thanks. For Friday night.”</p><p>Johnny lazily rifles through his books, not wanting to give LaRusso the attention he’s so obviously craving. “For which part? Where I saved your ass from that creep with the grabby hands or drove you home even though you almost puked all over the seats?”</p><p>“Oh, both! Seriously. I owe you one, man." And then in a quieter, almost reverent tone he adds, “You were amazing, Johnny, really. You knocked that guy’s socks off.”</p><p>Something light and warm flickers in Johnny’s chest, but he pushes it down. Imagines crushing a flower with his fist. </p><p>“Like I said, you shouldn’t drink so much if you can’t handle it."</p><p>“Shit, yeah, you’re right. You should have seen how sick I was the next day. My mom thought I’d caught the plague or something.”</p><p>Christ, and did LaRusso have to be so fucking amicable all the time.</p><p>“What were you drinking anyway?”</p><p>“Erm, peach schnapps I think.”</p><p>Johnny pauses, mind snapping back to the sweet, sugary scent of LaRusso’s breath on the beach. The hot flutter of it as LaRusso looked up at him and called him an asshole. <em>You're not my knight in shining armour. </em></p><p>He turns around, crossing his arms over his chest as he looks at LaRusso. Despite the hot California sun, his hair had never gotten any lighter since moving here, though his dark skin looked even softer, like he had a perpetual layer of sunblock on. He looks creamy and clean. It makes Johnny think of the cocoa butter his mom kept by her bed. </p><p>“You know that’s a girl’s drink, right? Only chicks and fags drink schnapps.” </p><p>It has the desired effect; LaRusso’s face goes bright red. “What?”</p><p>“Guys drink beer and girls drink schnapps. It’s not that hard, LaRusso.”</p><p>“Oh… I guess I missed the memo.” LaRusso fiddles with the straps of his bag again, looking flustered. And Johnny thinks he should have been doing this the entire time. Teasing LaRusso relentlessly was much more satisfying than pummeling him with his fists. </p><p>“I just- thanks. That’s what I wanted to say.”</p><p>“Well someone had to do something about it. You were acting like a slut.”</p><p>LaRusso’s flushed face blooms crimson, flooding his entire face and spilling down his neck. Johnny’s eyes track it hungrily.</p><p>“<em>What? </em>”</p><p>“Yeah, the way you were dancing, grinding up on that guy like that. That’s the way a slut acts. You were making it easy for him.”</p><p>And Johnny doesn’t mean a word he’s saying. The guy had been a fucking loser who took his shot because LaRusso was drunk. Who hadn’t cared even when LaRusso had said no. He was the textbook definition of a creep. But the words flow from him, and he realises he’s enjoying it. He enjoys hurting LaRusso. It’s like hurling a handful of tiny knives at him and watching them piece LaRusso’s skin.</p><p>“That’s not what happened.”</p><p>“Sure, whatever.”</p><p>“And why were you watching me dance anyway?”</p><p>“Everyone could see you. You weren’t subtle. Hey, if the karate thing doesn’t work out, you could go audition at the Pink Paradise, they’re always looking for new dancers. They hire girls but grow your hair out and people probably won’t notice the difference.”</p><p>The Pink Paradise was a strip club in the seedier part of the Valley. The Cobra Kai would sometimes sneak in there, feeling giddy and godlike when they’d just won a tournament. Sometimes Kreese would even take them there. Saying it built up masculinity or some horseshit. Johnny had stopped going when he’d been dating Ali, but had gone again after their breakup, moodily nursing a coke as a girl danced for him. </p><p>“Oh my god, you’re such an asshole,” LaRusso breathes. </p><p>And that's it. Johnny's had enough. </p><p>“Are you done? Just because I gave you a ride on Friday night doesn’t mean we're suddenly best friends. You said that I hated you and you’re right. I can’t stand the way you talk, I can’t stand the sight of you. I hate your fucking guts. If you fucked off back to New Jersey tomorrow, I wouldn’t even notice you were gone. So do me a huge favour and stay the hell away from me until we graduate.”</p><p>Something shutters behind LaRusso's eyes, like a candle light being snuffed out. His mouth draws up into an angry pout. </p><p>Johnny instantly feels like a jerk.</p><p>"Look, LaRusso-"</p><p>“You don’t have to worry, Johnny," LaRusso interrupts quietly. "I’d never want to be friends with someone like you. I thought I could say thanks, and we could move past this stupid fucking rivalry. Maybe I even felt a bit sorry for you after what happened at the tournament. Even someone like you didn’t deserve to be treated like that by their sensei, I thought. But you’re not worth it. You’re just a bully who can only think with his fists, so why am I wasting my breath talking to you?”</p><p>Johnny feels the heat rise in his face, but he can’t speak. He feels too winded.</p><p>LaRusso leaves him standing there. And Johnny doesn’t know why, but his words burn.</p><p>Is that who he really was? A bully? Was he just a loser, like Kreese had said? </p><p>He slams his locker shut, making a couple of girls nearby jump. </p><p>A feeling begins to gnaw at Johnny after that. He'd felt it at the tournament that night in December, when Kreese had told him to go for LaRusso's legs. And it had eaten away at him afterwards too. He knew what it was. <em>Guilt</em>. But that didn't mean he wanted to analyse it. For the next few days he ignores it as best he can - playing soccer, hanging with the guys, doing crunches in his room - but it won't fade. He feels as fresh as a wound. </p><p>LaRusso avoids him after that. Maybe even more than he had done before. His eyes never meet Johnny's when they pass each other in the hallway, and in the few classes they share, LaRusso sits near the front of the classroom, his back to Johnny. Even in the cafeteria, LaRusso jokes around with his friends on another table, and one day when Dutch purposefully knocks his shoulder against LaRusso, he winces but doesn't say anything. </p><p>It should feel normal but it doesn't. At least in the time before, LaRusso always gave some small involuntary signal that he knew Johnny was nearby. A subtle movement of his eyes, or a stiffening of his shoulders. Now there was nothing. It was like Johnny was invisible. </p><p>Then one afternoon about a week later, Johnny happens to see LaRusso at the park near Encino. </p><p>At first he thinks it has to be someone else. He's never seen LaRusso around Encino before. But there's no mistaking LaRusso. Even from a distance Johnny can hear that thick Jersey voice, can make out his olive skin in the dry LA air. He sees Ali on the grass next to him, draping a necklace she's made from daisies around his neck. She laughs as he preens, as if for a camera, and brings her face in close to say something to him. </p><p>The picture of them together makes Johnny's insides hurt, but he doesn't know why. He hasn't felt anything for Ali in a long time.</p><p>He heads over to them before he can really think about what he's going to do.</p><p>Ali notices him a little way off and she says something fast and quiet to LaRusso, who follows her eyes over to Johnny. Their expressions darken as he gets closer, though Johnny notices the little sweep LaRusso makes of him. Thinks he sees his cheeks grow pink. </p><p>He tries to act nonchalant when he reaches them. “Hey, how’s it going?”</p><p>Ali stares up at him, unimpressed. “What do you want, Johnny? If you’re looking to start a fight we’re not interested. That’s so last summer.”</p><p>“Yeah,” LaRusso says coolly, “and we don’t have any radios you can break either.”</p><p>Johnny digs his hands deeper into his pockets, trying to keep his anger in check. “Can I borrow LaRusso for a minute?”</p><p>Ali scoffs, as if Johnny’s just said something offensive and outrageous. “As if I’m going to leave you alone with him after everything you’ve done.”</p><p>“And who made you his protector, huh?”</p><p>LaRusso interrupts by putting his hand on Ali's bare knee. “It’s okay, I don’t mind talking to him.”</p><p>“I guess you’re right,” Ali says. “You’ve already proven you can take him."</p><p>Johnny’s insides flood with anger. God, the two of them were such little<em> bitches</em>.</p><p>Ali says she’s gonna run over to the ice cream place and get them both slushies, ignoring Johnny as she flounces past him. LaRusso smiles as she walks away, but it dims when he looks back at Johnny. He leans back on his forearms and the hem of his t-shirt rides up with the movement, revealing a strip of his flat belly. Johnny’s eyes slide away but the image feels burnt into his retinas. Was LaRusso really that brown all over?</p><p>"I guess I deserve that," he says. </p><p>LaRusso just raises his eyebrows in silent judgement. </p><p>Johnny palms the back of his neck. He wasn't going at this apologising shit. </p><p>"Was there something you wanted, Johnny?"</p><p>“Yeah... I just wanted to say I know I was a dick to you when you came over to my locker the other day.”</p><p>“Just the other day? You’ve been a dick to me ever since I moved here.” </p><p>"I know-"</p><p>"Really? I kinda find that hard to believe."</p><p>"LaRusso-"</p><p>"I can even refresh your memory for you, if you like. If it's feeling hazy. First you humiliated me at the beach on my first weekend here and gave me a black eye before my first day of school. Then you set your goons on me during soccer and almost got me suspended. Oh, and then you pushed me down a hill, almost killing me, and on Halloween you ganged up on me again. And all because you thought I was taking over your turf."</p><p>Johnny winces. "Dude, come on. You were macking on Ali from the second I met you.”</p><p>LaRusso sighs and picks a daisy from the grass. “She wasn’t even your girlfriend back then. Besides, I don’t like Ali in that way, we’re just friends.”</p><p>Johnny squints down at him, feeling lost. “What? Since when?”</p><p>“Since forever? I think Ali’s beautiful and I love hanging out with her, but I don’t want to be her boyfriend.”</p><p>“Are you kidding?” </p><p>LaRusso crosses his heart as he rolls his eyes. “Deathly serious, dude.”</p><p>“But why didn’t you ever say anything?”</p><p>“Because you never asked, asshole, that’s <em>why</em>. As soon as you saw me hanging out with her that night you went berserk."</p><p>“So this whole time, you just... wanted to be her friend?”</p><p>LaRusso scowls up at him as he plucks at the daisy. “I’m not like you, okay? I’m not just nice to a girl so I can get into her pants.”</p><p>But that didn’t make any sense. Every guy at school wanted to be Ali’s boyfriend. They’d have to be blind or dumb not to. That or-</p><p>Wait. </p><p>Johnny’s mind spins back to the beach party and skips through different shots, like flicking through polaroids. LaRusso dancing by the fire, looking so pretty and petite. Then the man behind him, his fingers on LaRusso’s waist. And later, the man pulling LaRusso’s hand to his crotch. And the way he’d pulled at the back of LaRusso's hair as he nosed at his throat, making the boy’s eyes go glossy and wide. </p><p>“Oh, I get it.”</p><p>LaRusso goes still, his fingers pausing on the daisy. “I seriously doubt that.”</p><p>“Have you told Ali about what happened at the beach?”</p><p>LaRusso grimaces and throws the plucked daisy away. He sits up, curling his arms around his legs.</p><p>“Look, what happened that night... You need to forget about it, Johnny. It was a mistake. I was really drunk, man. And Freddy and I got high before we came out. I wasn’t thinking straight. It just happened.”</p><p>“I thought you said you were goofing around?”</p><p>“I said<em> forget </em>about it. How would you like it if I brought up things you wanted to forget all the time? What if every time we saw each other I brought up the fact that I beat you at the tournament. That you had to cheat to even get close to me?”</p><p>Johnny feels his top lip curling back from his teeth. </p><p>“Fuck you, LaRusso. If you’d just been cool with us, things could have been different. We could have invited you to join the Cobra Kai.”</p><p>“Ha!” LaRusso cries, drawing the attention of a nearby family. “As if I’d ever want to join your stupid gang. I <em> hate </em>the Cobra Kai, and I hate you!”</p><p>Johnny’s hands curl into fists. “You’re really asking for it right now, man.”</p><p>“Oh,” LaRusso moans, his face a mockery of pity. “Poor little big man.”</p><p>“You know what? I’m glad you’re not dating Ali. Because you might fool her into thinking you’re this sweet innocent lamb that needs to be protected, but you’re just a fucking snake, LaRusso.”</p><p>LaRusso leans back up on his forearms again, and the expression on his face is so annoying Johnny wants to rub it into the grass. Then in an agonisingly soft voice LaRusso says, “Yeah well, this little lamb is still better at karate than you.”</p><p>Johnny sees red. A second later, his hand shoots out and he drags LaRusso up off the grass until the boy's balancing precariously on his tip-toes. LaRusso makes a gasping, punched-out noise, but it doesn't stop Johnny from pulling his face close to his own.</p><p>“You little shit. You got fucking lucky that night. It wouldn’t happen again. No way could a sissy like you ever be better than me.”</p><p>He pushes LaRusso away before he can respond, watching as he falls back onto the grass with a thud.</p><p>But the little firecracker doesn't take no for an answer. He's back up on his feet as fast as a gunshot, his small body vibrating with anger. He barrels towards Johnny and with both hands pushes him backwards. </p><p>“Fight me right now then, asshole," he says with a snarl. "Come on, right here!"</p><p>Johnny rights himself after the shove and glares at LaRusso. “We’re not in the dojo, LaRusso. I won’t hold back.”</p><p>LaRusso curls his hands into fists, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Good, then neither will I. Come on, I’m gonna kick your ass!” </p><p>Johnny has no intention of hitting LaRusso - not really - but he doesn't have a chance to back down when Ali’s voice comes screeching from behind them. “What are you doing? Leave him alone!” She pulls Johnny away, but not before slapping him hard across the face. </p><p>Johnny’s hand flies to his stinging cheek. “Ow, what the fuck? Why do you keep doing that!?"</p><p>“You just can’t leave him alone, can you? You never change.”</p><p>“He started it!”</p><p>And here they were again. The three of them screaming at each other, just like that night on the beach all those months ago. So much for moving on. For forging any kind of fragile peace.</p><p>“Just get out of here, Johnny.”</p><p>Behind Ali, LaRusso stays quiet. He stares down at the ground and his eyes look wet.</p><p>Ah Christ, and Johnny feels like the biggest fucking jerk of all time.</p><p>“LaRusso-”</p><p>Ali pushes him away. “I said <em> get lost</em>, Johnny. We’re done here.”</p><p>So he does. He leaves the park with a thundercloud above his head and spends the rest of the day feeling morose and prickly. At home he almost punches a hole into the wall in the kitchen, and storms out of the house when his mother screams at him. But no matter how fast he drives, or how much he takes it out on the punching bag he keeps outside, the feeling won’t let him go.</p><p><em> You’re just a bully who thinks with his fists</em>, LaRusso’s voice torments him. </p><p><em>You never change</em>, Ali's voice echoes.</p><p>That night he meets the Cobra Kai and they hang out in Bobby’s yard getting drunk. He tells them a version of what happened, one where he omits what LaRusso did at the beach and that focuses on what an antagonising little bitch he’d been to him at the park.</p><p>Dutch takes the story and runs with it gleefully. “I say we egg his place. You know where he lives, right Johnny? Maybe we can jump him when he leaves one night.”</p><p>“No,” Johnny says sharply. “We’re not doing that.”</p><p>“Come on, man. Let’s teach the little shit a lesson.”</p><p>“I said <em> no</em>.”</p><p>Dutch reluctantly quietens down after that, like a dog that flattens its ears when it’s been chastised by its owner, and they start talking about the tits on a hot girl in their Spanish class. But Johnny’s mind is only half on the conversation. The other half is back on LaRusso and what happened at the park. His wet eyes and upturned mouth. Like he'd been right on the verge of crying.</p><p>Johnny hadn’t meant to lose his rag with him. He just couldn’t help how he reacted around him. Everything about him made Johnny crazy. How he talked, how he walked. His dumb New Jersey accent. His stupid tiny body. The colour of his hair. The way he always cracked jokes. How he ran his mouth at every opportunity. How he scrambled around on the mat that night, evading all of Johnny’s kicks. And how nice he’d been to Johnny after he won. <em> You were amazing, Johnny, you deserve this trophy just as much as I do. </em>Even how he looked in the showers afterwards, his head tipped back as the hot water ran through his hair, his slim body bruised all over like a peach. And Johnny, catching sight of him on his way out, couldn’t help but stare. Because LaRusso had been a vision. And when Johnny had finally stepped outside, the cool night air hitting his face, he’d had to spit out all the saliva that had flooded his mouth, his heart pounding so hard he felt like he was on the verge of a seizure.</p><p>Johnny cracks open another can of beer, thinking, <em> fuck LaRusso.  </em></p><p>But still that feeling – the <em>guilt</em> – continues to gnaw at him.</p><p>“I know what I’m gonna do,” he says suddenly, interrupting the guys’ conversation.</p><p>They all stop to exchange a look and then stare at him.</p><p>Jimmy asks, “And what’s that, boss?”</p><p>But Johnny staggers up and leaves without another word, leaving his full can of beer and the guys telling him to get his ass back here.</p><p>The next morning Johnny wakes up early and heads to Reseda while his mom and Sid are still asleep.</p><p>But first he makes a detour to a fancy bakery, one he’d caught LaRusso peering into sometimes on the way home from school. He obviously never had any money to buy anything though, not from the expression on his face as he watched the donuts being made through the glass: a hungry kind of yearning that looked far too naked and vulnerable for a seemingly tough boy from New Jersey.</p><p>That’s how Johnny ends up at the South Seas apartments, knocking on LaRusso’s door with a box of fresh sugared donuts in his hands.</p><p>He feels more than a little stupid, trying to flatten his hair with one hand while holding the box with the other, and when the door finally opens Johnny almost drops the entire thing at his feet. </p><p>An older woman with bright eyes and dark hairs stands in the doorway.</p><p>“Well hi there,” she says. </p><p>As soon as she sees him she gives him a big smile. And Johnny can instantly connect the dots between her and LaRusso. The warmth she exuded was so different to the frosty native Californians Johnny had grown up around. Just like LaRusso, who’d hurtled into his life that night with a big smile and an outstretched hand, even in the face of Johnny's vitriol. </p><p>“Hi ma’am, is Daniel around?”</p><p>“Are you a friend from school?”</p><p>“Something like that, yeah.”</p><p>She stares at him for a second and then her face floods with recognition. “Wait, you’re the boy he beat at the Karate tournament in December.”</p><p>“Yeah…”</p><p>“He talks about you all the time.”</p><p>“Really?”</p><p>“Of course. He thinks you’re extremely talented.”</p><p>Somehow Johnny really doubted that.</p><p>“He’s just getting ready for work if you’d like to come in?”</p><p>“Oh no, I shouldn’t-”</p><p>She ignores him, calling LaRusso's name over her shoulder. When she turns back, it’s with another bright smile. Her eyes are blue instead of LaRusso’s dark brown, but they’re just as kind. </p><p>“Come in, please.”</p><p>“I really don’t want to be a bother. I can come back another time.”</p><p>“Don’t be silly, he’ll be out in a minute. He’s just impossible to get out of bed.”</p><p>Not wanting to be rude, Johnny steps into the apartment. If you could call it an apartment. The place was tiny, with a kitchenette leading into a living space with a small dining table, a couch and a tv. There were several photos dotted around in frames that looked homemade- all of LaRusso at various ages - and every surface seemed to be littered with leafy plants, piles of books or random bric-a-brac. It was chaotic and cosy. </p><p>It looked nothing like Johnny's house, with the white couches that you were never allowed to sit on for more than 10 minutes at a time in case you creased the fabric, and the marble countertops that were so glossy they made you wince. </p><p>Johnny notices a small tree by the window and gestures to it awkwardly. “I like your plant.”</p><p>“Oh, that’s a bonsai tree. Daniel’s karate instructor, Mister Miyagi, gave it to us.”</p><p>“It’s Japanese?”</p><p>“I think so, he-”</p><p>They’re interrupted by LaRusso loping into the room, wearing nothing but a small pair of jean shorts.</p><p>Johnny stares at him and feels his mouth go bone-dry. He’d never seen LaRusso in so little before. The shorts were tiny, their frayed ends landing at the top of his thighs, and they were faded and loose, like they could fall off at any moment. With no shirt, LaRusso’s narrow, tanned chest was completely on display. <em>So he really is that olive colour all over</em>, Johnny thinks through the rush of blood in his ears.</p><p>In a petulant voice, LaRusso says, “What is it, ma?”</p><p>A split second later he sees Johnny across the room and his eyes go comically wide. </p><p>He shrieks, “Oh my god!” and dives back into the hallway out of sight. </p><p>His mom just laughs, obviously not noticing how silent Johnny is, how hot his face must look. </p><p>“Honestly, Daniel, that’s what you get for lazing around half-naked.”</p><p>She turns to Johnny with another bright smile. “Let’s leave him to get dressed. Would you like something to drink? Some orange juice maybe? We have Minute Maid. Or maybe you’d prefer coffee? I don’t give any to Daniel because he’s enough of a livewire as it is, but I buy it for myself. When you work 12-hour shifts like I do sometimes, you basically live off the stuff. It’s like black gold.”</p><p>Johnny can see where LaRusso gets his mile-a-minute mouth from.</p><p>“Sure, orange juice sounds great,” he says, feeling like he’s about to have a nosebleed.</p><p>LaRusso's mom has just returned with the glass of orange juice when LaRusso rushes back out, this time with a t-shirt on, though it’s inside out, and Johnny is weirdly disappointed to see jeans instead of the denim shorts. </p><p>He’s up in Johnny’s space instantly, the colour high in his cheeks like he was running a fever. It would be intimidating if LaRusso didn’t look like a kitten that had discovered its claws for the first time. </p><p>“What the hell are you doing here?”</p><p>“I came to-”</p><p>“And how do you know where I live? Are you stalking me now?”</p><p>His mother stares at him, looking aghast. “Daniel! We do not talk to guests that way.”</p><p>LaRusso whips around, pointing his finger at Johnny like a prosecutor in a cheesy courtroom soap. “Ma, this guy is NOT a guest! He’s a psycho!”</p><p>“What’s gotten into you?”</p><p>“And why the HELL is he drinking our orange juice?” He turns back to Johnny. “Get your own juice, asshole!”</p><p>His mom’s voice goes cold as she says, “Daniel! You’re being extremely rude.”</p><p>LaRusso deflates, looking sheepish. “I’m sorry, ma,” he mumbles.</p><p>“As you should be. What would Mister Miyagi say if he saw you acting this way?”</p><p>“He’d probably tell me to paint his house again,” LaRusso says with a goofy smile.</p><p>
  <em>What?</em>
</p><p>The smile drops when he looks at Johnny again. “But seriously, why are you here?” </p><p>Johnny holds out the box of donuts, feeling so awkward he could melt into the floor. “I brought donuts.”</p><p>LaRusso frowns at him while his mother beams from across the room.</p><p>“Isn’t that so sweet of him? You love jelly donuts, don’t you, Daniel?”</p><p>“I’m not hungry,” LaRusso says tightly. </p><p>“Don’t be silly, you’re a ravenous animal at all times.”</p><p>“Ma! I am not!”</p><p>LaRusso glowers while Johnny bites down on the inside of his cheek to stop himself from laughing.</p><p>“Whatever. I have to go to work anyway. I can eat there.”</p><p>Johnny blinks at him. “You’ve got a job?"</p><p>"Yeah, we can't all make money by cleaning our father's yacht on the weekends." </p><p>"Daniel-"</p><p>"Sorry, Ma..."</p><p>"I can drive you if you want," Johnny says, ignoring the comment about the yacht. </p><p>LaRusso looks at him suspiciously. “Why? Are all your friends waiting outside, ready to throw me in the pool and drown me?”</p><p>His mom sighs. “Oh Daniel, stop it now. You’re always so dramatic.”</p><p>“No, it’s just me,” Johnny says. “For real. I’m not going to do anything.”</p><p>LaRusso runs his hands through his hair, hitting Johnny with the scent of coconut and fresh grass. </p><p>“Whatever, this is so surreal. I’m leaving and you better not still be here when I get back.”</p><p>“But-"</p><p>Johnny doesn’t get any time to finish his sentence. LaRusso grabs his backpack off the couch and kisses his mom on the cheek before running out the door, a sandwich wrapped in plastic in his hand. "Do <em>not</em> follow me," he shouts over his shoulder. </p><p>"You'd better run if you want to catch him," LaRusso's mom says with a smile. "He's small but fast."</p><p>"I've noticed," Johnny says, before drinking as much of the orange juice as he can. "Thanks, Mrs LaRusso!"</p><p>Outside, LaRusso's already downstairs and past the swimming pool. Johnny curses under his breath and starts running down the stairs.</p><p>He pauses when the old broad sitting by the pool raises her head from her paperback and looks at him shrewdly. </p><p>“I told him blondes were no good,” she says. “Blondes break hearts, I saw it in his future.”</p><p>Johnny gawps at her. “What the fuck?”</p><p>“Language, young man!”</p><p>“What did you say about me?”</p><p>A second later, he feels a hand pulling at him, and he turns to see LaRusso standing next to him, giving the woman a sweet smile.</p><p>“Good morning! Please don't mind my friend, he has, um, <em>mental issues</em>."</p><p>The woman peers at Johnny looking unimpressed. “He has a lot of negative energy around him. Is he a Scorpio?”</p><p>“A Virgo,” LaRusso cracks as he points at Johnny's head. “Can’t you tell by the angelic hair?”</p><p>“Hmm. Angels are usually devils in disguise.”</p><p>LaRusso pulls Johnny away before he can say anything else, his small fingers digging into him through his jacket.</p><p>“Can you stop causing trouble?” LaRusso hisses under his breath.</p><p>“What did I do?”</p><p>“Honestly what<em> don’t</em> you do?"</p><p>"And by the way, I'm actually a Leo."</p><p>"Ugh, why doesn't that surprise me?"</p><p>Out on the street, LaRusso drops Johnny's sleeve like it's on fire. He scowls at him, hip cocked sassily as he crosses his thin arms over his chest.</p><p>“So spill, Lawrence. It’s really uncool that you just turn up at my door like that. What’s your damage?”</p><p>"Nothing! I really did just wanted to bring you these donuts." He touches his am through his sleeve where LaRusso had dug his nails in like a feral cat. "Didn't realise I'd get my arm shredded for it."</p><p>LaRusso rolls his eyes. "Oh my god, dude, I barely touched you." He runs his fingers through his hair, making it even wilder than before. "I mean, did I wake up in <em>The Twilight Zone</em> or something? Since when do you know how to be <em>nice</em>?"</p><p>Johnny sighs. “I must have hit my head. Look, do you want these or not? I’ll get rid of them if you don't."</p><p>“What? Don’t do that!”</p><p>LaRusso grabs the box so fast he almost takes one of Johnny's hands with it. With greedy fingers, he takes out two donuts and stuffs them into his mouth, one after the other, lips spreading impossibly wide around the soft dough. </p><p>Gross. Johnny makes a face and looks away. “You can fit a lot into your mouth, huh?”</p><p>He closes his eyes as the implication hits him. <em>Seriously, Lawrence?</em></p><p>But LaRusso doesn’t seem to notice, too focused on moaning at the taste of the donuts. </p><p>“Oh my god, these are good,” he marvels when he's managed to swallow. “I’ve wanted to go to this place for months, how did you know?”</p><p>“Uh, lucky guess?”</p><p>Johnny thought that probably sounded better than admitting to stalking him. </p><p>“Wow, amazing.” LaRusso puts the rest of them into his bag. “Okay, because of the donuts you can walk with me to work if you want. But if you start anything I’m pushing you into the road and saying it was an accident if you get hit by a car.”</p><p>“That’s fair I guess…”</p><p>LaRusso turns and walks away, making Johnny run after him again.</p><p>"Jeez, can you slow down?"</p><p>"Can you hurry up? I don't even want to talk to you. What would your <em>Cobra Kai</em> even say if they knew you were here?"</p><p>"We're not in the Cobra Kai anymore, remember? We all quit."</p><p>"Coulda fooled me. You're all still jerks."</p><p>Johnny sighs. This was going to be harder than he thought.</p><p>"I know, but I keep thinking about what you said the other day-"</p><p>“So you do have a brain? I thought you were all muscle.”</p><p>“Dude, come on."</p><p>LaRusso doesn't interrupt again, so after a pause Johnny continues. "I know what I did to you was wrong. And I want to try to make it up to you."</p><p>"Make it up to me? You're about a hundred bruises too late for that."</p><p>"I get that. And I've been thinking a lot about what I did. I was a total dick when you first moved here and never gave you a chance. Because I was jealous of the attention Ali was giving you. And because I hated that-"</p><p>
  <em>That you didn't give that kind of attention to me. </em>
</p><p>Johnny shakes the thought from his head and continues. "Anyway, I thought, that, well, we could start fresh, do things differently from now on."</p><p>LaRusso stops and looks over his shoulder at him. "So what? You want a truce?"</p><p>"No, I thought-" Johnny pauses and swallows. "I just want things to be cool between us."</p><p>LaRusso gives him an indecipherable look and continues walking. "Cool? What does that even mean?"</p><p>"Like I just don't want to fight with you anymore. Or for it be weird between us."</p><p>"Huh, and here I thought you loved pretending like I didn't exist."</p><p>"Dude, that's not true. That's how you've been treating <em>me</em>."</p><p>"That's because I had to! Mister Miyagi says that I should be able to finish a fight, but I should never start them."</p><p>Johnny grits his teeth. God, it was always <em>Mister Miyagi this, Mister Miyagi that</em>, didn't LaRusso ever think about anything-</p><p>His train of thought gets knocked out of him when he stumbles into LaRusso, who's suddenly stopped opposite a busy diner.</p><p>"Huh? Why did you stop?"</p><p>"This is me," LaRusso says, waving at the building.</p><p>"What is?"</p><p>"The diner, I work here. I told you I worked just down the street."</p><p>And LaRusso has to be playing with him. Because Johnny knew this chain of diner, they were dotted all over the Valley. It was a place where families and hungry college kids would pour in to order burgers and fries or split a huge ice-cream sundae. But it was also known for the girls who worked there, the ones on rollerskates who'd skate around taking orders in tiny skirts. Johnny and the Cobra Kai had visited the chain plenty of times, just as much for an excuse to leer at the girls than enjoy the food. It was a Valley tradition. Everyone knew about it.  </p><p>“You work here? As, like, a waiter?</p><p>“No, moron, I'm the head chef. Yes a waiter!” LaRuss shoots him a look. “Why do you ask?”</p><p>“Nothing,” Johnny says.</p><p>LaRusso stares over Johnny's shoulder, biting his bottom lip. And Johnny really doesn’t want to look at it, but he can’t help it. LaRusso’s front teeth were a little too big, and Johnny wonders if his lip would be swollen after biting it for too long. If it would turn puffy and pink. </p><p>Johnny tears his eyes away, swallowing. What the fuck was he doing. </p><p>LaRusso says, “You really want to make things up to me?”</p><p>Johnny scuffs his sneaker along the street, not loving how exposed this conversation was making him feel. “Yeah. I was shit to you, I know that now. But I’m not like that. Kreese, what he told me to do… it’s not what I wanted. I’m not that person.”</p><p>"And what about the thing at the beach? You're really not going to tell people about what you saw?"</p><p>"No, man, that's history, I haven't even thought about it."</p><p><em>Liar, </em>a little voice in his head whispers. <em>You think about it all the time.</em></p><p>"Okay," LaRusso says.</p><p>"Okay? Okay what?"</p><p>“As in, <em>okay</em>. I’m not saying I’m over what you said the other week, or that I forgive you for what did to me for all those months, because I don't. You were an asshole and you made my life hell. And just because you want things to be cool between us doesn't mean they ever will be."</p><p>Johnny swallows, feeling like he's been flayed. </p><p>“But what your sensei did to you wasn’t right. And my mom’s taught me a lot about hypermasculinity and how it, like, poisons guys our age. We're living in an era of machismo and we have to fight it, or we'll just be slaves to it, you know what I mean?"</p><p>Johnny has no fucking clue but he nods anyway.</p><p>"So, I'm okay with giving you a chance."</p><p>"What?"</p><p>"Like... I don't know, we could hang out sometime."</p><p>Johnny looks at him, feeling like his brain must have stopped working. "You want to hang out... with me?"</p><p>LaRusso's face goes slightly pink. "I mean,<em> yeah</em>, isn't that what you mean by wanting us to be cool?"</p><p>"Yeah I do," Johnny says quickly. "I mean, that would be great. Awesome. Let's do that."</p><p>"Wow, this isn't awkward at all," LaRusso says. "How long did you practice that little speech anyway?"</p><p>"Only about 20 times in the mirror."</p><p>That knocks a shocked laugh out of LaRusso. The sound makes something warm and bright flicker to life inside Johnny's chest.</p><p>LaRusso breaks eye contact first, pulling his back strap up his shoulder. </p><p>"Um, so I guess I better get going, I don't want to be late."</p><p>"Sure, I'll see you at school... er, and LaRusso?"</p><p>"Yeah?"</p><p>"Your t-shirts on inside out."</p><p>"Oh shit," LaRusso says, looking down at it. "Thanks for telling me."</p><p>When he looks back up, the small smile on his face makes the glow expand even more inside Johnny's chest.</p><p>"Sure," he says tightly, "no problem."</p><p>"Okay, well, see you later."</p><p>"Yeah, see you..." he says, watching LaRusso walk inside. </p><p>That warm feeling in his chest stays with Johnny all the way home, as he walks back to his car and drives down the highway back to Encino, Bon Jovi blasting on the radio. When he gets back, his mom and Sid have gone, obviously for an early brunch, but he doesn't care. He's used to being left home alone. He drinks an entire carton of orange juice while he's standing at the fridge, and eats the rest of the leftover chicken from the night before. Distantly, he wonders how LaRusso would taste after eating those donuts. </p><p>Back in his room, Johnny does some crunches and spends some time looking over the old karate magazines he still keeps under his bed. </p><p>Finally though, exhaustion hits him. He hadn't slept a wink the night before, too keyed up about his plans to drive to Reseda. </p><p><em>We could hang out sometime, </em>LaRusso had said. Fuck. Why did that make him feel so weird?</p><p>It's too bright in his room, the morning sunshine pouring through the window. But Johnny doesn't care. He turns around to face the wall and sees LaRusso's smile imprinted behind his eyelids when he closes them. </p><p>As he drifts asleep, he thinks, <em>Fuck, LaRusso. </em></p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Johnny makes a promise to himself when he wakes up the following Monday: He’s actually going to be nice to LaRusso.</p><p>He thinks about him as he's getting dressed. The turn of his head, the big brown of his eyes as he looked at Johnny outside his apartment.</p><p>
  <em>Since when do you know how to be nice?</em>
</p><p>But he does know, and he's going to show him. </p><p>He'd been thinking about LaRusso over the weekend too. Just in drips. He'd be doing something and suddenly his thoughts would snag and slide, and he'd be picturing him. Picturing the way he crossed his arms so sulkily. How his dark eyes glittered that night on the beach.</p><p>Sometimes he thinks about how he looked in those tiny shorts. With so little to hide his body from Johnny's roving eyes.</p><p>Johnny does up the zipper on his jeans, avoiding his face in the mirror.</p><p>Out in the kitchen Laura's blending a mango smoothie for him as the sun streams through the porch windows. It's a habit she got into as she can't cook for shit. She smiles over her shoulder as he walks in, her teeth white and luminous in the morning light.</p><p>"We've hardly seen you all weekend, baby. Why are you shut up in your room like a vampire?"</p><p>He wants to say, <em>because I don't want to see you</em>. But that's not true. He doesn't want to see Sid. Sid, who looks at him with barely disguised displeasure every time he sets eyes on Johnny, as if he were some wild animal they were sheltering against his will.</p><p>He shrugs, which feels safer than letting his mouth take over. </p><p>"I worry about you, you know. You're so quiet these days. Your face is like thunder every time you come home."</p><p>She slides the smoothie over to Johnny, who takes it and tips his head back to drink it down.</p><p>Laura watches him with a mild expression. She asks, "Have you been stealing my liquor?" </p><p>Johnny doesn't flinch. Takes him time finishing the smoothie. When he places the glass back down, he tries to keep his face blank.</p><p>"No."</p><p>"So what happened to my bottle of Absolut, and my white wine from last weekend?"</p><p>"Maybe you just drank it and forgot."</p><p>"That's really your response?"</p><p>Johnny squares his shoulders. "I didn't take your stuff."</p><p>She smiles, but it curls sadly at the corners. "I don't actually mind. I just wish you'd ask instead of stealing it."</p><p>"Whatever. I should go, I don't want to be late."</p><p>He's in the hallway, tugging his bag over his shoulder when Laura calls out to him from the doorway.</p><p>He half turns, tensing. He's not in the mood for a lecture. "What is it?"</p><p>Laura reaches out to take him by the shoulders and turn him around to face her. Johnny relents, letting her brush his hair away from his forehead. It's a familiar touch, one from his childhood, when she'd come into his room and slide her hand through his hair. She used to be gone for hours at a time and Johnny would spend it waiting for her to come back. That had been long before Sid came into their life. </p><p>"You're getting so big," she says softly. "Soon you'll be going to college and you won't be here anymore. How will I cope then?"</p><p>"Was there a point to this conversation?" </p><p>"You know you can talk to me, right?" </p><p>Johnny's eyes swim over her shoulder to the painting on the wall. "Yeah, so?"</p><p>"What I'm trying to say is, I know things are hard for you. They have been ever since the tournament." </p><p>"Mom, I don't want to talk about that."</p><p>And he didn't. That was the last thing he wanted to talk to his mom about. </p><p>"But maybe that's the problem. You haven't said one word about it. Don't you think it would be good if you did?"</p><p>Johnny's hand clenches on his bag. "Just because you want to talk doesn't mean I do. Maybe I just want to be left alone." </p><p>He walks out the door before he can watch her face fall. He's had enough of seeing people's crushing disappointment when it comes to him. She doesn't try to stop him again, and Johnny doesn't stick around to say sorry. It's what the two of them did best.</p><p>⸻⸻⸻⸻</p><p>Johnny takes his bike to school that morning. Feels some of the storm inside him settle down as the wind whips through his hair.</p><p>He takes a longer route than usual, going down by the empty canals, where the hobos tended to collect like trash. He realises with a start that he's heading towards Reseda, and he turns so quickly he almost falls off his bike. Kicks up a cloud of dust that gets in his eyes, making him sputter. </p><p>30 minutes later he's parking his bike up at school when he sees the prince of Reseda himself: LaRusso, hanging by the entrance with Ali.</p><p>He lets his eyes trail over them as he usually does: LaRusso had shorts on and a pair of cherry-red high-tops. They were almost the exact same colour as Ali's lip-gloss. Ali, who was curling her arms around LaRusso's waist as she looked up at him, her eyes shining with affection. Johnny wonders with a grimace if they coordinated their outfits on purpose. LaRusso was soft enough to do something faggy like that.</p><p>
  <em>Be nice, Johnny, remember?</em>
</p><p>He swallows it down. Repeats it to himself as he walks into school. <em>Be nice. Be nice. </em></p><p>LaRusso brushes past him in the hallway that morning, in a rush of dark hair and skinny elbows. He doesn't stop when he sees Johnny, though he does turn to look at him just before he rounds the corner, brown eyes wide and curious.</p><p>He doesn't see him again until lunchtime, when the Cobras are sitting in the cafeteria together, Dutch regaling them with some story about Cassidy Andrews, a cute girl he'd got to second base with that weekend.</p><p>Sometimes Johnny thought they should have been called wolves instead of cobras - the five of them were always together, all through the good and the bad. When Dutch cracked his collarbone and they rushed him to the emergency room in the back of Johnny's car, or when Jimmy found the guts to kiss a girl he liked and afterwards narrated it to them quietly, going bright red when they clapped him on the back and called him Casanova.</p><p>Johnny had worried they might fall apart after the tournament, but they had all quit the dojo at the same time. <em>We're Cobra Kai for life, man,</em> Tommy had said. <em>Even if we're not actually Cobra Kai</em>. That night they tore the cobra patches from their jackets, and Johnny felt that lump in his throat, eyes burning as it crumpled in his fist. Bobby's hand on his shoulder had been the only thing keeping him from crying.</p><p>Dutch is laughing as he tells the story. "And then, she says to me, she says, 'But Dutch, don't you want to be alone together?'" </p><p>But Johnny's not listening because LaRusso's walking into the cafeteria, and he’s alone.</p><p>Without Ali’s little coven of sweet-smelling girls surrounding him. It’s a perfect opportunity. </p><p>When he stands up, all the Cobras stop and stare at him. Bobby's eyes flick between LaRusso and Johnny. He says, "Johnny, man, don't-"</p><p>Johnny steps out before Bobby can finish, coming to stand directly in front of LaRusso, who almost trips over his own feet. </p><p>“Hey,” he says, so loud and forceful that everyone sitting at the nearby tables looks at him.</p><p>LaRusso looks back at him with wide eyes. Eyes like a nervous deer, so dark and round. No wonder it had been easy to chase him all those times. It was like he'd been given the body of a prey animal, all long and twiggy. Just looking at him made something in the back of Johnny's head itch.</p><p>“Uh, hi," LaRusso says, tensing like Johnny's about to punch him in the stomach. </p><p>"How's it going?"</p><p>"Okay..."</p><p>Johnny nods. He has no idea what else to say, so he sits back at the table without another word. </p><p>LaRusso stands there for a second longer, fingers flexing at his sides, and then walks away, shooting a confused look back at Johnny.</p><p>Tommy gives him a look like he's gone mad. “What the hell was that about?”</p><p>"Yeah," Bobby says. "Has the hairspray gone to your head or something?" </p><p>"I don't use hairspray, dipshit," Johnny says sullenly. He picks up his fork and stabs his mound of green jello right in the centre. “Look, I’ve decided I don’t want to mess with LaRusso anymore.”</p><p>Dutch's face creases. “What? But you love messing with that little prick more than anyone.”</p><p>“Well not anymore, okay? I’ve changed my mind.”</p><p>"Come on, Johnny, he's such a little fucking weirdo."</p><p>"Maybe he's not that bad."</p><p>"Are you sure? I mean just look at him."</p><p>Johnny's eyes slide to LaRusso in the lunch queue. He's obviously struggling to turn off the frozen yogurt machine, something that makes Dutch and the others titter. They all watch as, with a wrench and a snap, LaRusso breaks the handle off and stares at it, frozen. His eyes shoot up to the stream of strawberry yogurt pouring out of the machine, and he hightails it, leaving the broken handle and the cascade of yogurt for the next person to deal with, biting down on his bottom lip as he hurries through the cafeteria.</p><p>Tommy makes a strangled, laughing noise in the back of his throat. </p><p>Johnny huffs and turns back to them. “Yeah, he’s fucking embarrassing. But I just don’t want to anymore.”</p><p>Bobby nods. “I’m with Johnny on this one. We only have three months of school left, so what’s the point?”</p><p>Dutch makes a disgusted noise. “You’ve all gone soft.”</p><p>At the end of the table, Jimmy says, "Actually I kinda like LaRusso."</p><p>Dutch whips his head around to stare at him. "What? Since when?"</p><p>"Since always? I don't know, he's nice. I never had a problem with him."</p><p>"Oh yeah? Is he going to blow you in exchange for saying that?"</p><p>Jimmy grimaces. "Dude, that's so gross." </p><p>Johnny looks over at Jimmy too. "So what? You were just going along with all the shit we did because I wanted to?"</p><p>"Yeah... I mean, I didn't want to let you down."</p><p>Dutch shakes his head. "Jimmy, you're killing me here, man." </p><p>Johnny looks back at his lunch tray, stomach curdling. "Look, do you ever think that maybe everything Kreese told us was just a lie?"</p><p>None of them respond, but Johnny feels all their eyes on him, questioning. He continues, thinking of what LaRusso said to him over the weekend. "All that stuff about showing no mercy and eliminating anything that made you weak. Don't you ever think it was, like, hypermasculine bullshit?" </p><p>Tommy mouths <em>hypermasculine bullshit </em>like Johnny's speaking a different language.</p><p>Dutch just sneers, his upper lip curling back.</p><p>"What?" Johnny says, shooting him a look.</p><p>"Since when did you grow a vagina?"</p><p>That's the final straw. Johnny takes his tray and slams it down on the table so hard the Cobras flinch, including Dutch. </p><p>"I said fucking <em>drop it</em>. I don't want to mess with LaRusso anymore and that's <em>it</em>."</p><p>Bobby, ever the mediator, puts his hand on Johnny's shoulder. "Guys, let's cool it, okay? We can talk about it later, let's not fight." </p><p>Across the table a muscle ticks in Dutch's jaw, dark eyes furious as he stares at Johnny. He's itching for a fight, Johnny knows it. It tips in the balance for a second, but then Dutch looks away, and his expression melts into something moody but a lot less volatile. </p><p>"Fine, whatever you say, Johnny."</p><p>Johnny nods, biting into his apple so hard he thinks he might crack his teeth.  </p><p>Bobby takes Johnny to one side when they're finished, letting the others go ahead. Dutch, in an angry bluster, doesn't even look back. Tommy looks back with a question etched into his face, but Bobby waves him off before turning back to Johnny. </p><p>"Can you tell me what's going on? And don't say nothing because you're a terrible fucking liar."</p><p>Johnny sucks on his tongue for a moment. There wasn't any point keeping it from Bobby.</p><p>He looks around to make sure no one's listening and then says, “So I went to see LaRusso at the weekend.”</p><p>Bobby blinks at him in surprise. “You did?”</p><p>“Yeah, and I said sorry. For everything.”</p><p>“Holy shit.” Bobby smiles and slaps him on the shoulder. “That’s great, man, good for you.”</p><p>Usually Johnny would bristle at something like that. But he’s been friends with Bobby for years, and he knows the other boy's words are genuine, not born from the same condescending worry that coloured every inch of praise his mom had thrown at him over the years.</p><p>"Did it make you feel better?"</p><p>"A bit, yeah."</p><p>"Maybe I should do the same." Bobby shifts, his face pained. "I still feel fucked up sometimes, you know, over what I did to him."</p><p>And Johnny knows that. He'd spent the entire weekend with Bobby after the tournament as they both drank themselves into a stupor, his throat so bruised he could hardly talk. Would have smashed his two trophies into pieces if it hadn't been for the other boy holding him back. He was pretty sure he cried too, but he tries not to remember. Prefers to keep that weekend as a dark blot of time he didn't look at too closely.</p><p>“Well I was thinking that we could all hang out sometime."</p><p>Bobby looks at him, letting that sink in. “Oh yeah? What did you have in mind?"</p><p>"A few beers? It doesn't have to be a big deal."</p><p>"And what about the others?"</p><p>By others he means Dutch.</p><p>“I thought it could just be me and you for now.”</p><p>Bobby nods. "Well we can't hang out at mine, Dutch could drop by."</p><p>"Yeah and not mine. Sid goes ape-shit when I invite people over without telling him. Maybe the beach?"</p><p>"Sounds good, let's do it." </p><p>They agree on their plan, and part ways before their next class. All Johnny needs to do now is actually invite LaRusso.</p><p>He finds him by his locker after their last class of the day, chatting to some dweeb in glasses. As he walks over, Johnny tries not to stare at the leg LaRusso's got kicked out, a position that makes the hem of his shorts pull up dangerously high to reveal a long swathe of milky brown skin. His t-shirt is half tucked-in, the neck loose like it had been pulled at too many times, exposing the hollow of his collarbone.</p><p>“Hey,” he says, though he pitches his voice softer than in the cafeteria. </p><p>LaRusso turns and he blinks, looking surprised. “Hi,” he replies, squeezing his books to his chest.</p><p>The boy next to him stares at Johnny like he’s seen the sun for the first time: wide-eyed and open-mouthed.</p><p>Johnny raises his eyebrows at him. “Can I help you, nimrod?”</p><p>The boy jumps as if zapped and hurries off, saying, “See you later, Daniel,” over his shoulder.</p><p>"Oh see ya, Henry." LaRusso frowns at him. “Have you come over here to shout at me some more?"</p><p>Johnny glowers. "I didn't shout."</p><p>"Yeah? I'm pretty sure the entire Valley heard you."</p><p>Johnny changes the subject before they get into a fight. "I came over here because I wanted to ask you something.”</p><p>But LaRusso doesn't look any less sceptical. “If you’re going to ask me to do your History homework, the answer's no." </p><p>“What?”</p><p>“Well you’ve been slacking off since the start of semester."</p><p>Johnny stares at him. “No, I haven’t! And how would you know anyway?”</p><p>“I’m very observant. It’s a skill of mine.”</p><p>“What, along with kicking me in the face?”</p><p>LaRusso looks at him snootily. “That was only the one time. Though I could practice it more if you like.”</p><p>"Nah, I'm good. Don't want to mess up my hair."</p><p>That makes LaRusso snort, and Johnny can tell he's trying not to laugh. He couldn't blame him; Johnny was hilarious.</p><p>"So this thing I wanted to ask you," he says. And Christ, why did this feel so similar to the first time Johnny asked Ali out on a date? "I was wondering if you wanted to hang out with me and Bobby this weekend?"</p><p>LaRusso's mouth falls open. “Really? With me?"</p><p>“That's what you said on Saturday, right? That we should hang out?"</p><p>"I mean..."</p><p>"It's not an ambush, man."</p><p>LaRusso looks uncertain, and fuck, Johnny hates this feeling, like he's two seconds away from being rejected and kicked to the curb. He changes tack, squaring up to the other boy and crowding him up against his locker, like all the times he threatened to beat him up.</p><p>It feels safer interacting with him like this. Like he's back on dry land after being at sea.</p><p>“Don't be a pussy, LaRusso," he says in a low voice. "Hang out with us."</p><p>LaRusso's eyes fire up at his tone, and fuck that did something to Johnny. Made his lower stomach pull up tight in a way he didn't associate with anger, but something completely different. The way it did when he stared at Ali in her bikini when they went to the beach, or looked at the magazines he kept wedged under his mattress after his mom and Sid had gone to bed. It was <em>not</em> a feeling he associated with LaRusso.</p><p>"And what if I don't want to?" LaRusso says.</p><p>"I guess I could force you."</p><p>LaRusso's eyes go wide, his mouth parting again. And Christ, why were his lips so fucking pink all the time?</p><p>A second later LaRusso's face creases up and he bursts into laughter. </p><p>Johnny feels like he's been doused with cold water. He jumps back and scowls. "What the hell are you laughing at?"</p><p>“Is this you trying to be friendly? You really suck at it." LaRusso laughs so hard he hiccups with it. </p><p>And honestly, fuck this. If he’d known LaRusso was going to be such a little bitch about everything, he wouldn’t have bothered. </p><p>“Forget it, man. Enjoy your tea party with Ali instead.”</p><p>“Johnny, wait.” LaRusso grabs him as he turns to walk away, his fingers curling around Johnny’s forearm.</p><p>And usually Johnny would shrug him off, but this time he freezes. Because LaRusso's skin feels warm, sun-touched. Was it because he was Italian? Like maybe all that lemon-yellow sunlight fused into their bones somehow, heating them up from the inside.</p><p>Johnny shakes the thought from this head. What a weird, sissy thing to think about.</p><p>“I didn’t say I didn’t want to,” LaRusso says. </p><p>He drops his hand before Johnny can jerk away. But Johnny can still feel him, making all the small hairs on his arm shock up.</p><p>LaRusso gives him a coy little look. “Let's start over. Why don't you ask me again?"</p><p>“Why? So you can humiliate me some more?”</p><p>"Maybe I'll respond differently this time."</p><p>"You get one chance, LaRusso, and that's it."</p><p>LaRusso rolls his eyes. "Oh come on, man, stop being such a-"</p><p>He stops as his eyes catch on something over Johnny's shoulder. He says under his breath, "Dana's giving you the stink eye right now," and Johnny half turns to see Dana striding down the hallway with her friends, her dark eyes fixed on Johnny. </p><p>"Shit. Okay, talk to me like we're deep in conversation."</p><p>"I thought we <em>were</em>-" </p><p>LaRusso's words cut off as Johnny leans up right into his space, pressing his arm up against the locker next to them as if to cage him in. He tries to ignore the way LaRusso inhales, and the sudden dusting of pink on his cheeks that wasn't there a minute ago.</p><p>He spies the lurid cover of a comic book tucked into the front page of LaRusso's notebook. "What are you reading?" </p><p>"Oh, uh..." Johnny watches as LaRusso glances down, eyelashes touching his cheek. "It's the new Spider-Man comic." </p><p>"Of course you'd be into Spider-Man, you're such a nerd."</p><p>LaRusso looks offended. "Hey, Spider-Man is cool! He's just an ordinary high school student who's suddenly imbued with super-strength, and instead of letting it go to his head, he uses it to help ordinary people in his city. And he has web-shooters and a rad costume-"</p><p>Johnny tries not to look at him too closely as he's talking. This close his lips looked even pinker. And he could smell him again. He didn't smell sweet like Ali, who always doused her wrists and neck in some sugary mall perfume that had made Johnny half-gag sometimes. LaRusso smelled fresh, like spring. Or the sidewalk after rain when Johnny got up to go running. With that hint of green tea undercutting everything. </p><p>"Are you even listening?"</p><p>"Yeah, I heard you. So you feel some connection with him because you're both from Staten Island or whatever?"</p><p>LaRusso doesn't look impressed. "I'm from New Jersey. Peter Parker is from Queens." </p><p>Johnny did know LaRusso was from Jersey, of course. But he wasn't about to admit that.</p><p>LaRusso points to the cover. "And look, his new suit is black because it's his new Symbiote suit!"</p><p>"Uh-huh. Totally fascinating." </p><p>LaRusso gives him a hard little stare. "Let me guess, you're more of a brooding Batman kinda guy."</p><p>"I don't read comics, LaRusso. I'm not a dweeb."</p><p>Johnny looks back over his shoulder, but thankfully Dana's disappeared down the hallway. </p><p>When he looks back, he expects LaRusso to still be scowling at him with that bitchy pout of his. Instead LaRusso's looking at him like he's just been hit in the face, pupils blown wide. Johnny drops his eyes to LaRusso's lips. Wonders if he'd tasted sweet after drinking all that schnapps.</p><p>LaRusso suddenly says, "I never noticed your eyelashes were blonde too."</p><p>They both look away at the same moment. Johnny thinks he feels his own face going red.</p><p>LaRusso swallows. "Um, well I think the coast is clear." </p><p>"Uh, yeah." Johnny leans back, feeling weird. </p><p>"She's so pissed at you for the party, man."</p><p>"Why? It's not like I did anything. I had to take a piss and when I got back, she was making out with some guy."</p><p>LaRusso sucks his bottom lip into his mouth. When he releases it, Johnny tries not to look at how shiny and wet it is.</p><p>"You could just be honest and say you're not into her that way."</p><p>"Why wouldn't I be into her? Dana's hot."</p><p>LaRusso gives a little shrug. "I mean, you <em>are</em> avoiding her."</p><p>"I'm just waiting for the right time. Haven't you heard of playing hard to get?"</p><p>"Also you're asking me to hang out and not her, so..."</p><p>"Not anymore. You missed your chance, remember?"</p><p>That coy little look returns, the one that was currently tying Johnny up into knots. "Oh, well that's too bad because I kinda wanted to."</p><p>"You did?"</p><p>"Yeah..."</p><p>And god, talk about hot and cold. LaRusso was as bad as a girl.</p><p>"Cool, well, midday. Meet us by the boardwalk. And don't be late, we won't wait for you."</p><p>Johnny walks away before LaRusso has a chance to respond, the pulse at his neck rising rapidly. He looks over his shoulder when he's at the end of the hallway, and sees LaRusso still standing there, his books clasped to his chest in a stunned tableau. </p><p>He thinks maybe that was the longest conversation they'd ever had without hitting each other. </p><p>⸻⸻⸻⸻</p><p>The week passes by in a blur of classes, soccer practice, and getting drunk in his room. His mom tries to talk to him when they pass each other outside his room, or when Johnny bothers to come home on time for dinner, shovelling white fish and green beans into his mouth because Laura's on a new diet and everyone has to be subjected to eating the same thing. He deflects her attempts every time.</p><p>And maybe the look on her face digs at him a little. They'd been close when he was younger. When all they had was each other. But it had been different since Sid. They were like strangers who inhabited the same space. </p><p>That following Saturday they meet by the boardwalk as planned.</p><p>It's early April and the Valley's getting hotter every day, making Johnny's tank top stick and his hair grow damp against his forehead.</p><p>Bobby's already there when he arrives, checking out a couple of girls buying ice cream. And the girls <em>were</em> cute - one a strawberry blonde who gave Johnny an appreciative look under her eyelashes - but Johnny's too busy thinking about LaRusso to revel in the attention.</p><p>Bobby shoots him an amused look as they wait. "Why are you so nervous?"</p><p>"I don't know. What if we have nothing in common and it's fucking awkward?"</p><p>"It'll be fine. It's Daniel LaRusso, not Sylvester Stallone."</p><p>"But what if it's bad, like really bad, and we get into a fight again?"</p><p>"Just chill," he laughs. "I'll break you up when he swings the first punch."</p><p>They catch LaRusso in the distance. He's walking his bike along when he sees them and waves.</p><p>He had a soft grey t-shirt on that looked a little too big - he probably picked it up from a thrift store or something - over a pair of denim shorts. And his shorts were <em>short</em>. Like <em>really</em> short. So short that when he bends down to chain his bike up, the entire back of his upper thigh is revealed for Johnny's eyes. He was rake-skinny, but it looked like there was some extra bounce there, like you could get a hand around it and squeeze hard.</p><p>“Jesus Christ,” Johnny says. For a delicate second he thinks he might get a nosebleed. </p><p>Bobby throws him a questioning look. </p><p>Johnny thinks on his feet. “Can you believe that little shrimp's older than us?”</p><p>Bobby laughs. "Maybe we should bully him into showing us his birth certificate." </p><p>They turn back to face LaRusso, who smiles but stops a short distance away.</p><p>“We’re unarmed,” Bobby jokes, showing his empty hands. </p><p>Bobby had an easy way with people. Was even more popular than Johnny because he never seemed to get on anyone’s bad side. At least not until LaRusso had turned up and put them all on edge with his loud voice and attention seeking. </p><p>Johnny crosses his arms. "Are you just going to stand there all day?" </p><p>"Do you swear you guys aren't taking me somewhere secluded to kill me? Thousands of people are killed on beaches every year, you know."</p><p>"Is that true?" Johnny says. "That sounds like bullshit."</p><p>"No, really, I read it in National Geographic." </p><p>Bobby and Johnny exchange a look: he was definitely bullshitting. </p><p>"We cross our hearts," Bobby says. "Our killing days are behind us."</p><p>LaRusso sighs, hands on his hips like some little primadonna. "Okay, fine, but I will kick you in the head if I have to."</p><p>Johnny's nose pangs. He didn't want a repeat of that, thanks very much.</p><p>They make their way down the beach, LaRusso trailing a little way behind them. It's busy, with groups scattered across the sand, but they find a quiet spot near the mouth of a cave, creating the illusion of a hidden space.</p><p>Bobby throws LaRusso a look over his shoulder. "You cycle over from Reseda?"</p><p>"Yeah! I take my bike most places, it's easier than getting the bus."</p><p>"Don't you have a sweet ride? The yellow Ford?"</p><p>"I do, but I keep it at my sensei's place. I get scared it'll get stolen where I live."</p><p>"That's pretty smart, there are a lot of assholes out there." He gives Johnny a pointed look.</p><p>Johnny glares up at Bobby from where he's leaning back against the sand. "Why are you looking at me?"</p><p>"Didn't you try to steal a car that one time?"</p><p>"Yeah, when I was 14, dipshit."</p><p>LaRusso's brows shoot up. "You tried to steal a <em>car</em>?"</p><p>Bobby grins. "Johnny wanted to be Knight Ride for an entire year."</p><p>"I swear to god, Bobby, man."</p><p>That makes Bobby and LaRusso laugh. Bobby throws himself down next to Johnny, digging through his backpack for the beers, while LaRusso sits opposite them, his long legs stretched out in front of him. Johnny tries not to look at them, how smooth and soft they look. </p><p>Bobby suddenly gives LaRusso a pointed look. He breathes in deeply and in one long rush says, "Hey, I just wanted to say, I'm really sorry for kicking your leg like I did back at the tournament. It was shitty of me, I shouldn't have done it."</p><p>LaRusso winces slightly. "Oh, yeah, that's okay."</p><p>"I didn't want to hurt you. Kreese told me to do it, but it was still wrong."</p><p>Johnny looks away. He didn't even want to hear his name. </p><p>"I understand. I don't hate you for it or anything."</p><p>"You don't?"</p><p>"No, I don't see the point in holding grudges, it's not worth it."</p><p>Bobby nods, but his face remains serious. "I also wanted to say sorry for the way we ganged up on you at Halloween."</p><p>"Yeah..."</p><p>"And for, er, tackling you during soccer on your first day-"</p><p>"I get it, man, LaRusso interrupts, "really, we're good."</p><p>Bobby breathes out a sigh of relief. "Cool," he says.</p><p>He cracks out the beers and throws one to LaRusso, who grapples with it clumsily and drops it to the sand. Johnny thinks back to the debacle in the cafeteria with the yogurt machine. Somehow this was the klutz who kicked all their asses. </p><p>LaRusso takes a dainty sip of the beer like he's drinking iced tea, making Johnny snort. </p><p>"Hopefully it's to your tastes. We don't have peach schnapps on us unfortunately." </p><p>LaRusso goes faintly pink. "I don't drink schnapps all the time."</p><p>"Uh-huh. Maybe we'll bring a fruit punch for you next time."</p><p>"Knock it off," Bobby says. He gives LaRusso the warm kind of smile he usually reserved for girls or small animals.</p><p>LaRusso settles a little. He fiddles with his can and says, "So Johnny said you guys all quit Cobra Kai?"</p><p>"That's right. We couldn't do it anymore, not after what Kreese did to Johnny."</p><p>"Yeah," LaRusso says, as he glances at Johnny. "That must have been rough."</p><p>Johnny doesn't say anything. Lifts the can to his mouth so he doesn't have to answer.</p><p>"What happened to Kreese anyway?"</p><p>"We don't know. The guy packed up his shit and just left town. Closed the dojo without telling anyone."</p><p>LaRusso gives them one of his little crooked smiles. "Well it sucks you can't wear those cool jackets anymore."</p><p>"Tell me about it, man." Bobby throws Johnny a sideways grin. "Hey, this means you can go back to being the Ace Degenerate."</p><p>Johnny groans. "Can you quit it?"</p><p>LaRusso gives them a curious look. "Ace Degenerate?"</p><p>Bobby hooks a thumb in Johnny's direction. "Johnny here was the scourge of the West Coast."</p><p>LaRusso laughs. "Seriously?"</p><p>"We're talking boozing, brawling, stealing, almost ending up in juvie, how many times was it-"</p><p>"Three times."</p><p>"Three times!"</p><p>"The only reason I didn't was because Sid shed a load of cash each time to keep people quiet."</p><p>He regrets it the moment he says it. But LaRusso, like a dog with a bone, doesn't let it go. "Who's Sid?"</p><p>"My asshole stepdad."</p><p>LaRusso blinks. "Stepdad? Your parents are divorced?"</p><p>"They'd have to be married in the first place to get divorced. He booked as soon as he knocked my mom up."</p><p>"Oh." LaRusso shifts his legs on the sand, long and lopey. "I'm sorry."</p><p>"I'm not. He was obviously an asshole." He glares at Bobby. "Anyway, stop calling me a fucking Ace Degenerate. It's Ex-Degenerate, asshole."</p><p>"Keep fighting it, man."</p><p>Johnny slants his eyes back to LaRusso. "Let me guess, you've never done anything wrong in your whole sweet life."</p><p>And Johnny knows he's not supposed to be making fun of LaRusso anymore, but it was too irresistible. Not when LaRusso reacted so deliciously every time. Like now, for example, as he sits up on the sand looking ruffled and indignant.</p><p>"That's not true!"</p><p>"Really? Name one bad thing you've ever done." </p><p>"Okay! One time back in Jersey, me and my friends stole this guy's collection of baseball cards because he was being mean to another boy in our class. We did feel kinda bad because he was upset so we put in an anonymous tip for where he could find the cards - we'd hidden them in the ceiling above our Spanish classroom. So he did get them back after a few days. But we still stole them! It was thrilling in a weird way."</p><p>Johnny and Bobby look at each other. A second later they start laughing. </p><p>"What?" LaRusso says, sounding highly offended. "What's so funny about that?" </p><p>Johnny and Bobby are too busy laughing to answer. </p><p>The rest of the afternoon passes in an easy sweep. Much too easy considering their history. And Johnny starts to realise how satisfying it is, seeing LaRusso like this. They trade jokes and talk about school, and Bobby fills LaRusso in on Johnny's bad boy reputation, which LaRusso laps up, until Johnny, sick of being ganged up on, ends up tackling Bobby into the sand. </p><p>He wonders with a small pang if it should have always been like this. </p><p>They say their goodbyes as the sun starts going down, LaRusso saying he needs to get home for dinner. </p><p>Johnny watches LaRusso fiddle with his bike in the fading afternoon light, bathing his skin and hair in deep gold. </p><p>"You know you don't have to go yet. There's a hotdog stand near here. Does the best corn dogs in the entire valley."</p><p>In his peripheral vision, Johnny can see Bobby looking at him and he feels himself flush.</p><p>"Oh, yeah?" LaRusso looks tempted. "I can't though. I told mom I'd be back, she's making cannoli. Maybe next time though?"</p><p><em>Next time</em>, Johnny thinks. <em>Fuck</em>. </p><p>“You know, you’re all right, LaRusso,” Bobby says. </p><p>“Oh, thanks,” LaRusso grins, lighting up under the praise.</p><p>“Do you need a ride? I've got my car." </p><p>“Nah, I’ve got my bike. Thanks though. It was fun."</p><p>He shoots Johnny one last look over his shoulder, and then he's gone, cycling down the street, long legs working at the pedals.</p><p>Once he's out of sight, Johnny looks sideways at Bobby. "What?"</p><p>"Corn dogs, huh?" </p><p>"Dude," Johnny turns away as he starts going red, "shut up." </p><p>Bobby doesn't say anything for a moment, but when he does it's laced with the teasing kind of undertone that makes Johnny want to die. "Surprised you didn't offer your jacket for him to wear. Maybe you could have draped it over the beach so he didn't have to get sand in his shoes."</p><p>"Bobby, what the fuck?"</p><p>Bobby just shakes his head. "Johnny Lawrence having a soft spot for Daniel LaRusso. Now that's not something I could have predicted."</p><p>"I don't have a <em>soft spot</em> for him."</p><p>"Oh yeah? So that's not why you were playing hero on the beach that night?"</p><p>Johnny doesn't say anything. He shrugs his jacket back on, trying to act as cool as possible.</p><p>Bobby suddenly sighs, sifting a hand back through his hair. “Man, all of this has made me feel like such an asshole.”</p><p>"What do you mean?"</p><p>“LaRusso... he’s a good kid. Like, he's a little fruity, but he's nice." </p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>"What are we going to tell the others?"</p><p>"I don't know yet. But we should bring Jimmy next time."</p><p>"So there <em>is</em> going to be a next time?"</p><p>Johnny shrugs, trying to keep it loose and casual. He didn't want this to be, like, <em>a thing</em>. "If we want there to be, sure."</p><p>Bobby thinks about it as he packs up their things. When he looks back at Johnny it's with a serious expression.</p><p>"You know Dutch is going to lose it if he finds out we're hanging out with LaRusso and not him."</p><p>And he would. Johnny knew that. "Yeah, I know. I'll tell him, okay? I will."</p><p>Thankfully Bobby doesn't push it. Instead he claps Johnny on the back and says, "But you know what I really want to know?"</p><p>"What?"</p><p>"What the fuck is a cannoli?" </p><p>⸻⸻⸻⸻</p><p>Johnny spends the rest of the weekend getting wasted. He doesn't leave his room again until early on Sunday morning, when he sits in the pool and watches the sun rise, thinking about the way LaRusso had looked so lit up the day before. Golden, dewy. Like he'd been made for the summer.</p><p>He remembers to clear up all the empty beer cans by the side of the pool before he goes back in, where he falls naked and wet onto his bedsheets. He wakes up sometime later, his mouth like cotton and his head a wreck. He doesn't come out for dinner when Laura calls him, but he does sneak out that night and pads barefoot to the kitchen where he devours the leftovers like a beast hunched over the fridge.</p><p>He snags another beer as he goes back to his room. Drinks until he falls asleep again.</p><p>That Monday he goes into school feeling like shit. Bobby brings a McDonalds burger in for him, which he eats gratefully out by his car, and the other boy forces two aspirin into his hands, saying "You know I'm not your mom, right? Look after yourself, for fuck's sake."</p><p>He starts feeling a little better, a little more awake, by the time his first class of the afternoon begins.</p><p>Johnny gets there early, and he's leaning against the wall waiting to go in when he hears a small "hey," from behind him. </p><p>It's LaRusso, who smiles at him. </p><p>He actually had jeans on today, something for which Johnny silently counts his blessings. Though the tank he wore revealed the smooth, tanned tips of his shoulders. Girls at school would have killed for that kind of eternal, even tan. And LaRusso just had it naturally. </p><p>Johnny unsticks his mouth to say, "How's it going? You get home okay on Saturday?" </p><p>"Yeah. Told my mom we were hanging out." LaRusso rolls his eyes. "For some reason she's besotted with you."</p><p>And he doesn't know why, but that makes something warm blossom in Johnny's chest. </p><p>"Shit, I don't blame her. I'm a big hit with moms." </p><p>LaRusso laughs. "Wow, hot-shot, huh? Maybe you can teach me some moves. Ali's mom hates me." </p><p>"Oh yeah?" </p><p>"Yeah, she doesn't think I'm good enough to be hanging out with Ali. She looks at me like I'm Pip from <em>Great Expectations</em>."</p><p>Johnny looks at him blankly. "Who?"</p><p>"You know, the Dickens novel? Pip's this urchin kid who falls in love with this rich girl Estella."</p><p>"And here I thought you just read Spider-Man comics."</p><p>LaRusso turns sheepish. "You're not supposed to talk about that," he says. </p><p>Johnny grins, about to rib LaRusso some more, when Ali turns up from behind them, looping her arm through LaRusso's.</p><p>"Daniel, I told you to wait for me." Her expression turns stony when she looks at Johnny. "Johnny," she says.</p><p>"Mills," Johnny replies. </p><p>LaRusso throws her an awkward smile. "I wanted to get good seats for us."</p><p>That makes Ali brighten. "Oh you're so sweet," she says. </p><p>Johnny rolls his eyes, turning away so he doesn't have to make conversation with the two of them. </p><p>When the teacher lets them in, Ali sits in the far row by the window and LaRusso sits in the middle row. That leaves a seat on his left-hand side, which he glances at pointedly as Johnny walks into the room. Johnny pauses for a second, and then without thinking about it, slides into the seat. He glances sideways at LaRusso as he does, who's smiling as he opens his notebook, teeth digging into his bottom lip.</p><p>He tries to focus on class after that. With LaRusso next to him, nibbling on the end of his pen, it proves harder than it should. </p><p>⸻⸻⸻⸻</p><p>Things feel different after that, easier. Johnny doesn't talk to LaRusso any more than he usually would, but whenever they pass each other in the hallway, LaRusso's eyes meet his. Sometimes he gives him a secret little smile, other times, when they're alone, he says hi.</p><p>And Johnny finds he doesn't feel as annoyed when he sees him. Not like the year before, when it felt like his skin was on fire every time they locked eyes. It's like they're both looser, more relaxed. And Johnny finds he starts to look forward to seeing him. Wonders when he moves between classes if LaRusso will turn the corner and be there too, in his high-tops and his frayed jeans, his hair so dark against the tidal wave of blonde.</p><p>It's nice, Johnny thinks, it actually feels <em>good</em>. </p><p>Except things go to shit the following week.</p><p>It's a Wednesday afternoon and they're outside, kicking the ball around lazily when Johnny sees LaRusso across the field. He's with Ali as usual, and her squad of cheerleaders, and the girls are pulling him around like he's a toy. Johnny tries not to stare, but every now and then he flicks his eyes over to look at him, his hands on his narrow hips as he says something that makes all the girls laugh. </p><p>He's trying to focus on where the ball is when Dutch suddenly appears at his shoulder. </p><p>"LaRusso keeps looking at you," he says.</p><p>Johnny looks over his shoulder. The second he does, LaRusso's head whips away, but he's biting his lip like he knows he's been caught.</p><p>He turns back, feeling warm. "Maybe he's just looking in this direction. It doesn't mean he's staring at me." </p><p>"No, he's been looking at you for the last ten minutes. I've been watching him."</p><p>Johnny shrugs. "Just forget it." </p><p>"He's up to something, I just know it."</p><p>"Yeah, he needs glasses. Probably because of how you kicked him in the eye at the tournament." </p><p>Dutch snorts. He always loved being reminded of that. Sometimes Johnny thought Dutch liked beating on LaRusso more than he did.</p><p>Johnny looks back at LaRusso over Dutch's shoulder. Over the long, tanned slide of his legs and the stretch of his white socks over his skinny calves. He's so busy looking that he completely misses the ball when it's kicked in his direction.</p><p>Their teacher sighs and says, "Are we keeping you from something more important, Mr Lawrence?"</p><p>"No," he says, biting his lip before the "sensei" rolls out automatically. </p><p>"Well pay attention please, or you won't be on the soccer team for long."</p><p>Johnny nods, trying to focus on the game. Except that's when LaRusso - who's actually decided to take part and not waste the entire lesson acting Casanova with the cheerleaders - kicks a ball in a neat arc that smacks Dutch right in the face. </p><p>"Shit," Tommy breathes next to Johnny. </p><p>"Oops," LaRusso calls over, looking anything but apologetic. "I didn't look where I was kicking the ball."</p><p>Dutch stares at LaRusso for a white-hot second and Johnny sucks in a breath, waiting for the inevitable explosion. It doesn't take long. Dutch lunges forwards, and it takes both Johnny and Tommy to hold him back before he goes barrelling into LaRusso like a wrecking ball. </p><p>"You fucker!" he shouts, fingers scrabbling against Johnny's arm, trying to break himself free.</p><p>"Dutch, stop it, come on," Johnny says as he struggles against Dutch's weight. "Let it go, all right?" </p><p>But Dutch shakes his head, snarling. "You didn't see what that little bitch did to me?"</p><p>Tommy pushes him back, feet digging into the ground. "Dutch, man, you're gonna get kicked off the field."</p><p>"I don't fucking care, let me <em>go</em>."</p><p>LaRusso makes a mocking little sound. "Oh, is the baby tired? Does he need a nap?" </p><p>"Shut the fuck up, LaRusso," Johnny says, throwing a glare over his shoulder.</p><p>LaRusso's smile immediately falls. His mouth pinches up into a pout. </p><p>A second later their teacher is running over, brows knitted. "What's going on here?"</p><p>Tommy throws him a panicked smile as Dutch settles down. "Nothing, sir, just a disagreement."</p><p>"If you can't control yourself, all three of you will have to see me after school in detention." </p><p>"Sorry," Dutch says sullenly, the fight leaking out of him. "It won't happen again."</p><p>"Make sure it doesn't. You're on the cusp of graduating, I'd expect better."</p><p>Dutch nods, but as soon as they're alone he spits a gobbet of blood onto the grass. "Fuck," he hisses, throwing a dark look at LaRusso. But the other boy just turns away, the ghost of a smile on his face. He looks completely unperturbed, running his hands through his hair. </p><p>They hit the locker rooms after the lesson ends, though there's no sign of Dutch among the blur of half-dressed boys. Johnny doesn't think anything of it, Dutch was a law onto himself most days. He starts to pull his t-shirt off so he can hit the showers, when he hears a bang and a hiss from around the corner and one of the guys on the soccer team, Ethan, hisses to his friend, "Dude, Dutch is about to beat the shit out of LaRusso."</p><p>Johnny's stomach clenches cold. He shoves past Ethan (<em>"Dude, what the fuck?"</em> ) and rounds the corner to find the boys grouped together as if watching a dog fight. They're all staring at Dutch, who has his hand fisted into LaRusso's t-shirt, pinning him against the wall like a butterfly.</p><p>Dutch leans in and says, "Come on, you little fag, admit you did it."</p><p>LaRusso's face twists into a snarl. "I don't know what you're talking about!"</p><p>"You're a fucking <em>liar, </em>you kicked the ball at me on purpose."</p><p>"Dutch," Johnny says from behind them. "Leave him alone." </p><p>Dutch looks over his shoulder at him, and his eyes are so dark they look nearly black. "You saw what he did to me out there. You <em>saw it</em>."</p><p>"It was an accident," LaRusso insists. </p><p>"<em>An accident</em>," Dutch mocks, pushing LaRusso harder against the wall. "Will it be an accident when I break your fucking nose with my fist?" </p><p>LaRusso pales. "You moron, you really want to get expelled three months before we graduate?"</p><p>"I don't know," Dutch says. "I think seeing you choke on your own blood might be worth it."</p><p>"Stop it, man, this isn't funny."</p><p>"Do I look like I'm laughing?"</p><p>All the boys are watching with bated breath now, on tenterhooks to see what happens.</p><p>And something's happening to Johnny. There's fire licking beneath his skin. Because LaRusso looks hurt, face creasing like it did at the tournament when Bobby kicked his leg and he crashed to the mat. And he can't stand it. He can't stand to see LaRusso make that face again.</p><p>"Dutch," he grits between his teeth, fists clenching at his sides. "I said <em>stop</em>."</p><p>Dutch looks at him again, but he still doesn't loosen his grip on LaRusso. "Johnny, he's asking for it."</p><p>"Right fucking now. Let him go, I mean it."</p><p>That muscle ticks in Dutch's jaw again. The one that went wild when he wanted to hit someone. He knows Dutch's been waiting to get his revenge on LaRusso ever since the tournament. That he was on a trigger point around the other boy for the humiliation he put them all through. </p><p>And he knows Dutch won't be satisfied until he has LaRusso's blood on his knuckles. </p><p>Johnny's about to close the distance and get between them, when Dutch finally lets LaRusso go. </p><p>"You're so fucking lucky," he says. "You don't even know how easy it would be. How I could snap you in half just like<em> that</em>." He snaps his fingers in LaRusso's face and the boy flinches. "So just stay the fuck away from me for the rest of the semester." </p><p>Dutch stalks off without another word, shoving against Johnny with his shoulder as he walks past.</p><p>A lot of the other boys had already dispersed, obviously uncomfortable, but Johnny shoots a glare at the ones still hanging around. "It's not a free show, so get the fuck out of here before I flush all your heads down the toilet," he says. They all scuttle away like mice. </p><p>LaRusso's still slumped against the wall when he turns back, his eyes fixed on the floor.</p><p>"Are you okay?"</p><p>LaRusso swallows. "I think so."</p><p>He rubs at his chest where Dutch shoved him, and Johnny wonders if he's bruised there, if his tanned skin is mottling purple right at this moment. </p><p>That fire licks through him again, a simmer that continues to heat as he looks at the other boy. </p><p>"Did you have to hit him in the face with the ball like that?"</p><p>LaRusso's mouth knots up into a sullen pout. His dumb pink mouth that always got him in trouble. "Like he hasn't done worse to me."</p><p>Johnny huffs in disbelief. "Sometimes I think you have a death wish, LaRusso." </p><p>LaRusso rips his eyes from the floor to glare at him. "I don't need you around to protect me, I can take care of myself."</p><p>His words echo what he said on the beach that night. <em>I don't need you to be my knight in shining armour. </em></p><p>"Are you sure? Because if Dutch had his way you'd be on the floor right now with your nose smashed in."</p><p>"I can take him, okay? Or have you forgotten the way I beat him at the tournament?"</p><p>"Karate isn't always going to save you, LaRusso. Not everywhere is a dojo."</p><p>That shuts LaRusso up. He looks away again, and his eyes glitter wildly like he's about to cry.</p><p>Johnny's suddenly hit with the insane urge to comfort him. He sees himself sitting LaRusso down on the bench and sliding his arm around his shoulders, telling him it was okay. He was so small, he could fit under Johnny's arm easily. </p><p>"You'd never understand," LaRusso says quietly.</p><p>"Understand what? That you're a shrimp who never knows when to quit?" </p><p>"No, just... everything's so easy for you." </p><p>Johnny sucks on his tongue to stop himself from snapping. Feels his jaw tense. </p><p>"My dad's an asshole who likes to pretend I don't exist and the last time I did karate my sensei tried to kill me afterwards, so yeah, real easy." </p><p>LaRusso cuts his eyes back, some of the anger melting into shock. "Johnny..."</p><p>"Forget it, I'm gonna go shower." </p><p>"Okay," LaRusso mumbles.</p><p>Johnny leaves him there. Wants to shower and get out of the locker room as soon as he can. But as he pulls his t-shirt off he thinks about the expression LaRusso made. How hurt he looked. He goes back, his wet t-shirt balled in his hand.</p><p>"Look, LaRusso-"</p><p>He stops dead.</p><p>Across the room LaRusso has his back to him, and he's pulling his t-shirt over his head. The movement exposes the long line of his back to Johnny, all that buttery brown skin. It's just like that night after the tournament, when Johnny had seen him in the showers. He'd been covered in bruises then. Not now. He looked as smooth and as untouched as a new peach.</p><p>Sense memory slams into him, of all the times Johnny had snuck into Ali's room late at night when her parents were in bed. When he palmed his dick through his jeans as Ali pulled off her sweater and her bra, saying he had to wait to get his hands on her. He thinks about it now, except it's LaRusso in his head. It's him crossing the room and getting his hands on all that olive skin. </p><p>LaRusso looks over his shoulder and their eyes meet. </p><p>He doesn't say anything, but his mouth does part on a silent note, his own eyes flickering down to Johnny's bare chest.</p><p>The bottom of Johnny's stomach goes molten, tight, like there's a sting connecting his body and LaRusso's eyes.</p><p>He was so tiny, so narrow. It wouldn't take anything for Johnny to pick him up or push him down onto the bench. Maybe he could see if the skin at his thighs really was as soft and squeezable as it looked. If the indentations of Johnny's fingers would turn his skin shockingly white.</p><p>Johnny turns and walks back to the showers before LaRusso can say anything.</p><p>When he steps under the spray he cranks the water down as cold as it can go and stares at the wall in front of him until his skin turns to ice. He ignores the throb in his crotch. How much he wants to trail a hand down and touch. </p><p>Maybe if he stays under the water long enough he can forget just how pretty LaRusso looked.</p><p>⸻⸻⸻⸻</p><p>Johnny spends the rest of the week feeling like he's been completely dismantled.</p><p>Dutch remains stormy and on edge, like a statue on the edge of shattering. Doesn't ask Johnny if he wants to hang out after school like he usually does. When Bobby asks what happened, all Johnny has to say is "LaRusso," for him to get it instantly. And LaRusso doesn't talk to Johnny for the rest of the week either. In the hallways he doesn't look at Johnny, and he doesn't keep a seat free for him in class like he had the week before.</p><p>By the time the bell rings on Friday afternoon Johnny's so frustrated he's bitten a bloody crescent into his bottom lip.</p><p>On Saturday morning, he wakes up feeling grumpy and disjointed. He goes for a run and almost cracks his knuckles from how hard he hits his punching bag, but it doesn't help. He thinks about Dutch - how volatile he looked, eyes rolling black - and feels like shit.</p><p>"He'll come around," Bobby tells him on the phone. "He's just sore is all."</p><p>Johnny says he guesses so. Asks if Bobby wants to hang out. But Bobby says he can't, he's hanging out with his dad.</p><p><em>Must be nice,</em> Johnny thinks as he throws himself back on his bed. He forgets that some people have good relationships with their parents.</p><p>His thoughts drift to LaRusso as he lies there. Wonders what he's doing. He glances at the clock and thinks he's probably doing his shift at the diner right now. Johnny hadn't been back to his apartment since that Saturday morning, but sometimes when he went for a drive after school he swung by, wondering if he'd see him. Half-imagining what he was doing up in that small apartment.</p><p>Without thinking about it, Johnny gets up and pulls on a pair of jeans. He finds a t-shirt that doesn't smell too bad, and throws that on too. </p><p>Out in the kitchen Laura's sitting at the breakfast nook, her make-up and jewellery already on. He pauses in the doorway to say he's going out, but she barely registers him. Probably because she'd slipped a Valium into her morning tea.</p><p>He drives out to Reseda, the windows down and the radio on. </p><p>When he walks into the diner, it's quieter than he expects. There's a family trying to hush a crying baby and a couple of punks with smeared eyeliner sharing a cone of fries, but that's it. Over the speakers an old pop song plays, faint and faded.   </p><p>One of the waitresses standing behind the counter sees him. She pokes another girl standing next to her, and the two of them stare at him, their eyes wide, before they dissolve into giggles, talking to each other at a hushed but rapid pace. </p><p>Johnny glances down at his t-shirt - did he have a mustard stain or something?</p><p>That's when LaRusso walks through a door separating the kitchen from the diner, with a tray in his hands. </p><p>He throws the girls a confused look. But then he sees Johnny standing at the door and his mouth drops open. </p><p>"Johnny? What are you doing here?"</p><p>"Uh-"</p><p>Johnny feels tongue-tied, struck dumb. Too busy staring at LaRusso to think about what he's going to say. LaRusso, who was wearing a matching pale blue shirt and shorts with a small white apron and a pair of white sneakers. He'd totally forgotten there was a uniform at this place.</p><p>"I wanted to come in and get a burger," he says finally.</p><p>"What, you just happened to be in Reseda?"</p><p>"Yeah? Is that a crime?" </p><p>"Daniel," one of the waitresses says in a high voice, "you're friends with Johnny Lawrence?"</p><p>Johnny blinks. He didn't even know these girls. </p><p>LaRusso looks over his shoulder at them and says, "I guess you could say that." </p><p>The girls exchange a look, their eyes so shocked and wide they looked like they were going to pop out. </p><p>When LaRusso turns back to him, he looks faintly pink. "Okay, well you can sit by the window if you want."</p><p>"Do you have a break coming up? I was wondering if I could talk to you." </p><p>"I, erm," LaRusso shifts from one foot to the other, looking embarrassed. "I could take 10 minutes I guess."</p><p>"Cool, I'll be over here," Johnny says, gesturing at a booth near the window. </p><p>Johnny sits and tries to ignore the girls still giggling behind the counter. LaRusso emerges a few minutes later, sans apron and tray, and slides into the booth opposite him. He makes an annoyed face at the girls and says, "Looks like you've got fans wherever you go."</p><p>"Uh yeah, I guess." </p><p>"Not that I'm surprised. I hear girls at school talking about you sometimes."</p><p>"Oh yeah? What do they say?"</p><p>"Stuff," LaRusso says vaguely.</p><p>Johnny can't help but run his eyes over LaRusso's uniform again. He tries to do it as subtly as possible, but LaRusso catches him. </p><p>"Don't say one word about what I'm wearing," he says, voice deathly. </p><p>"I wasn't, but now that you mention it... I think they gave you a girl's uniform."</p><p>"What?! This is a <em>boy's</em> uniform!"</p><p>Johnny tries to stifle a laugh. "They just told you that so you wouldn't feel bad."</p><p>"You know I can get you kicked out, right?"</p><p>"Okay, okay, I'll stop." Johnny looks around at the diner. "I'm actually surprised you work here."</p><p>LaRusso shrugs. "Yeah, it wasn't my first choice. I wanted to work at this mechanic's shop near me, but they didn't need any part-time help. So this was the easiest thing." He smiles brightly. "Plus I get to bring home a lot of free food, which is pretty awesome."</p><p>Johnny nods, thinking of the times Laura had worked as a waitress. How she'd bring home lukewarm burgers for Johnny to eat, or sometimes a crimped piece of pie, fridge-cold, bleeding red with artificial cherry. Days like that had felt decadent, spun with gold.</p><p>LaRusso's voice cuts through the memories. "Anyway, you wanted to talk?" </p><p>"Yeah, it's about what happened with Dutch."</p><p>"Oh, that..." LaRusso looks momentarily pained. "You were right, I shouldn't have kicked the ball at him, it was stupid."</p><p>“I also wanted to ask if you wanted to hang out again next weekend."</p><p>Johnny's mouth snaps shut. He wasn't meant to say that, hadn't even planned to ask LaRusso that as he drove over.</p><p>Across the table LaRusso looks just as surprised as he feels. "Like with Bobby again?"</p><p>"No, I was thinking," Johnny stops and swallows. "I was thinking it could just be the two of us."</p><p>LaRusso bites his lip, looking uncertain. When he blinks his long eyelashes brush his cheek. </p><p>"Maybe that's not such a good idea."</p><p>"Why not?"</p><p>"What about Dutch? I don't want to cause beef between you guys."</p><p>"Don't worry about him. He's my problem."</p><p>LaRusso doesn't look convinced. He looks down at the table and traces his finger along the edge of the tablecloth. After a moment he says, “Why do you want to spend time with me? Like I know you want to make up for what happened last year, but you don’t have to. Really."</p><p>Johnny palms the back of his neck. He didn't expect to be grilled over this. He didn't even know how to put it into words. </p><p>“I’m asking you because I want to. It doesn’t have to be any deeper than that.”</p><p>LaRusso looks up again. "Because you <em>want to</em>?"</p><p>Johnny feels himself go red. "Yeah."</p><p>"Okay," LaRusso says after a moment. "Then I, um, want to as well."</p><p>"Okay," Johnny echoes, head blank.</p><p>"Where would we go?”</p><p>Johnny has no idea, but he thinks rapidly. "Maybe we could drive down to Long Beach, they have a cool arcade there and I know this Mexican place where they do these amazing Churro things. But there’s one condition: you can't come looking like a dork. I have a reputation to uphold."</p><p>LaRusso frowns, and Johnny bites down on the inside of his cheek to stop himself laughing.</p><p>“What do you mean? I look good! Besides, Ali says I look cute."</p><p>“Ali also cuts pictures of rabbits out of magazines and sticks them on her bedroom wall.”</p><p>LaRusso's laughs a little. “Yeah that <em>is</em> kinda cheesy." He stares at Johnny for a second. "Okay, you’re on. But I have to tell Mr Miyagi first. I was meant to go over on Saturday afternoon and help him paint his living room. But I'm sure he won't mind." </p><p>"Paint his living room? Is that how he charges for his lessons? Interior decorating?"</p><p>"No," LaRusso laughs. "You'd get it if you knew him, it's this whole thing about patience and diligence." </p><p>Johnny had no idea what that had to do with karate. But maybe there was something in it. LaRusso was being touted as a prodigy after all.</p><p>LaRusso glances at the clock on the wall next to them. "Shit, I should go. Did you want something to eat or what?"</p><p>"Yeah, okay. What do you recommend?"</p><p>"Um," LaRusso scratches the back of his head with his pen, thinking. "We do great blueberry pancakes. Seriously, they're amazing. Sometimes when we have too much batter left over the chef makes a batch just for me and I have to eat them really fast out the back before I'm caught. Ha!"</p><p>"Sounds good," Johnny agrees, feeling slightly stunned. He didn't even like sweet stuff for breakfast that much.</p><p>LaRusso grins at him. "Great." He slips out of the booth and scribbles the order down on his pad. "Also," he says, cocking his hip. "You better not be a stingy tipper. It's always the rich kids who come in here and never tip anything, it drives me fucking nuts!"</p><p>"I'll tip, LaRusso, I'm not a monster."</p><p>"I guess not," LaRusso says, and he gives Johnny that smile again. That shy, secret smile he didn't seem to give anyone else. "And you know, if you want to come in and see me you don't have to make an excuse. I don't mind." </p><p>Johnny stares at him. Opens his mouth to deny it but just says, "Okay."</p><p>It's only when LaRusso walks away that he realises how much it sounds like he'd just asked him out on a date. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I finally got round to updating this! Thank you to everyone who commented on the first chapter and who waited patiently for this chapter while I was off writing other fics &lt;3</p><p>I actually did my research and there *was* a Spider-Man comic out in April 1985 where Spider-Man wears a black symbiote suit, so I feel like I deserve all the history awards now.</p><p>You can also find me on tumblr at @thorniest-rose!</p>
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